The Romanian Orthodox Church

At first glance, the nationalist ideology of the French Revolution seems to have had little impact on the Orthodox Church in Romanian-speaking territories. Romanians were the predominant inhabitants of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia and the neighboring territories of Transylvania (including Crişana, Maramureş and Banat), Bukovina, Bessarabia, and Dobrudja. The majority of ethnic Romanians belonged to the Orthodox faith while their communities were at the intersection of geopo liti cal interests of the Rus sian, Ottoman, and Habsburg empires. In 1859 the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (known as the Old Kingdom between 1866 and 1918) united into a single state under the rule of a local prince. The term "Romania" began to be used by the new state in its of cial documents in 1862. Two years later, the state supported the declaration of a Romanian autocephalous (in de pen dent) church that was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1885. As an integrative part of the Orthodox commonwealth, the church was situated between the competing jurisdictions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Rus sian Orthodox Church, while its declaration of autocephaly followed a pattern in the spread of national churches in Southeastern Europe. From the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainardji of 1774 to the beginning of the Greek War for In de pen dence in 1821, the Romanian principalities were under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, which had full control of their po liti cal and economic affairs. The sultan appointed princes, and the Porte determined their po liti cal and judicial status. The princes were drawn from the "Phanariots," and were directly appointed by the Porte from preponderantly Greek elite rather than the Romanian local elite, the boyars (boieri).1 In each principality, the church was headed by a metropolitan who was under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. That religion mattered to local population as a means of social cohesion was suggestively depicted by Anatole de Demidoff, an En glish traveler in the region in 1837. Arriving in Bucharest, the capital of Wallachia, he claimed that: I know of no city in Europe in which it is possible to find more agreeable society, or in which there is a better tone, united with the most charming gaiety⋯. Religion, which is here of the schismatic Greek creed, does not, properly speaking, hold any great empire over the minds of the Wallachian people, but they observe its outward forms, and particularly the austerities of fasting, with scrupulous exactitude. The people are seen to attend divine ser vice with every sign of respect, and the great number of churches existing in Wallachia, bear witness to the ardent zeal with which outward worship is honored.2 The Romanian Orthodox Church was a national institution, closely linked to social, economic, and po liti cal structures. In most cases, Orthodox hierarchs were appointed from the families of boyars, thus ensuring a close relationship with the state authorities and its policies. As one of the largest landowners in the principalities, the church had a prime role in administrating healthcare and education. Although the majority of the clergy was uneducated, it dispensed both ecclesiastical and civil justice and in many cases worked closely with boyars in local administration.3 The lower clergy not only contributed directly to the economy but also benefited from tax privileges. Some small villages had an unusually high proportion of clergy in comparison to the overall population. For example, in 1810, Stənisləveşti, a village in the south of Wallachia, was composed of eleven houses and had two priests, five deacons, and three cantors; similarly, the Frəsinet village of nineteen houses had two priests and five deacons.4 Although these cases were exceptional, they indicate both the economic value of being a member of the clergy and the wider canonical dimension of church jurisdiction. The special status of the clergy was reflected not only at lower but also at higher levels. Bishops and metropolitans engaged with state policy and in many cases opposition to the authorities led to the loss of a spiritual seat. The metropolitan of each principality worked with the prince and was president of the divan, the gathering of all boyars. He held the right to be the first person to comment on state policy and to make recommendations when the prince was absent. The metropolitan replaced the prince when the principality had no political ruler, such as in the cases of Metropolitan Veniamin Costachi of Moldavia in 1806 and Metropolitan Dositei Filitti of Wallachia, while the bishops of Buzəu and Argeş were members of the provisional government during the Rus sian occupation of the principalities in 1808. The higher clergy had both religious and political prerogatives in relation to foreign powers as evident in their heading of the boyars' delegation to peace negotiation between the Rus sian and Ottoman empires at Focşani in 1772 and addressing memoranda to the Austrian and Rus sian governments in 1802.5 The primary role of the church in the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia was paralleled by the national mobilization of Orthodox communities in the neighboring territories that had Romanian inhabitants. Although throughout the region Orthodox communities were incorporated into church structures as part of the Habsburg, Austrian or Rus sian empires, the nineteenth century was characterized by the leadership's search for political autonomy and the building of a Romanian national identity. The Orthodox communities outside the Old Kingdom maintained relations with the faithful in principalities across the Carpathian Mountains and the Dniester River and sought support in their struggle for political and religious rights.

On the stability of conventional and nano-structured carbon-based catalysts in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene under industrially relevant conditions

Relevant carbon-based materials, home-made carbon-silica hybrids, commercial activated carbon, and nanostructured multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) were tested in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene (EB). Special attention was given to the reaction conditions, using a relatively concentrated EB feed (10 vol.% EB), and limited excess of O2 (O 2:EB = 0.6) in order to work at full oxygen conversion and consequently avoid O2 in the downstream processing and recycle streams. The temperature was varied between 425 and 475 °C, that is about 150-200 °C lower than that of the commercial steam dehydrogenation process. The stability was evaluated from runs of 60 h time on stream. Under the applied reactions conditions, all the carbon-based materials are apparently stable in the first 15 h time on stream. The effect of the gasification/burning was significantly visible only after this period where most of them fully decomposes. The carbon of the hybrids decomposes completely rendering the silica matrix and the activated carbon bed is fully consumed. Nano structured MWCNT is the most stable; the structure resists the demanding reaction conditions showing an EB conversion of ∼30% (but deactivating) with a steady selectivity of ∼80%. The catalyst stability under the ODH reaction conditions is predicted from the combustion apparent activation energies. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relationship between a retention program and the persistence and graduation rates of first-generation low-income students at an urban, public university

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in a retention program designed to promote academic and social integration and the persistence rates of first generation, low-income college students at an urban, public multiethnic university. Archival data were collected from the university’s Office of Institutional Research and the retention program office and included SAT/ACT scores, GPA, gender, ethnicity, and program participation data. A total of 292 first-generation, low-income students who were admitted to the university in the summer of 1999 were identified for the study. A group of 166 students were selected for the comparison group because they had not participated in the retention program; 126 students had participated in the retention program. ^ Three major research questions guided this study: (a) Are there differences in persistence rates and other academic characteristics of underprepared, low-income, first generation college students who participate and do not participate in the retention program?; (b) Does involvement in the retention program predict student persistence of first generation low-income, underprepared students?, and (c) Can predictors of GPA be identified for students in the retention program using program and descriptive variables? ^ A series of logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between various retention services and the persistence and graduation rates of participants. The results showed that there were statistically significant relationships between participation and non-participation in the retention program and having higher GPAs and higher graduation and persistence rates. Of the four program features, participation in tutoring, workshops, and social events were found to be predictors of graduation. College GPA was also found to be a predictor of graduation for all students. The results also showed that women were more likely to graduate than men.^

Aedes aegypti pharate first instar aseasonal quiescence cues anticipatory plasticity with implications for urban vector ecology and control

The eggs of the dengue fever vector Aedes aegypti possess the ability to undergo an extended quiescence period hosting a fully developed first instar larvae within its chorion. As a result of this life history stage, pharate larvae can withstand months of dormancy inside the egg where they depend on stored reserves of maternal origin. This adaptation known as pharate first instar quiescence, allows A. aegypti to cope with fluctuations in water availability. An examination of this fundamental adaptation has shown that there are trade-offs associated with it. ^ Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are frequently associated with urban habitats that may contain metal pollution. My research has demonstrated that the duration of this quiescence and the extent of nutritional depletion associated with it affects the physiology and survival of larvae that hatch in a suboptimal habitat; nutrient reserves decrease during pharate first instar quiescence and alter subsequent larval and adult fitness. The duration of quiescence compromises metal tolerance physiology and is coupled to a decrease in metallothionein mRNA levels. My findings also indicate that even low levels of environmentally relevant larval metal stress alter the parameters that determine vector capacity. ^ My research has also demonstrated that extended pharate first instar quiescence can elicit a plastic response resulting in an adult phenotype distinct from adults reared from short quiescence eggs. Extended pharate first instar quiescence affects the performance and reproductive fitness of the adult female mosquito as well as the nutritional status of its progeny via maternal effects in an adaptive manner, i.e., anticipatory phenotypic plasticity results as a consequence of the duration of pharate first instar quiescence and alternative phenotypes may exist for this mosquito with quiescence serving as a cue possibly signaling the environmental conditions that follow a dry period. M findings may explain, in part, A. aegypti's success as a vector and its geographic distribution and have implications for its vector capacity and control.^

Tullich Aberdeenshire : a reappraisal of an early ecclesiastical site and its carved stones in the light of recent excavations

Peer reviewed

Understandings of transnational families in debates on Migration and development

International migration sets in motion a range of significant transnational processes that connect countries and people. How migration interacts with development and how policies might promote and enhance such interactions have, since the turn of the millennium, gained attention on the international agenda. The recognition that transnational practices connect migrants and their families across sending and receiving societies forms part of this debate. The ways in which policy debate employs and understands transnational family ties nevertheless remain underexplored. This article sets out to discern the understandings of the family in two (often intermingled) debates concerned with transnational interactions: The largely state and policydriven discourse on the potential benefits of migration on economic development, and the largely academic transnational family literature focusing on issues of care and the micro-politics of gender and generation. Emphasizing the relation between diverse migration-development dynamics and specific family positions, we ask whether an analytical point of departure in respective transnational motherhood, fatherhood or childhood is linked to emphasizing certain outcomes. We conclude by sketching important strands of inclusions and exclusions of family matters in policy discourse and suggest ways to better integrate a transnational family perspective in global migration-development policy.

Perspectives on gender, migration and transnational work: joint work of social reproduction and care in Southern Europe

This paper presents the "state of the art" and some of the main issues discussed in relation to the topic of transnational migration and reproductive work in southern Europe. We start doing a genealogy of the complex theoretical development leading to the consolidation of the research program, linking consideration of gender with transnational migration and transformation of work and ways of survival, thus making the production aspects as reproductive, in a context of globalization. The analysis of the process of multiscale reconfiguration of social reproduction and care, with particular attention to its present global dimension is presented, pointing to the turning point of this line of research that would have taken place with the beginning of this century, with the rise notions such as "global care chains" (Hochschild, 2001), or "care drain" (Ehrenreich and Hochschild, 2013). Also, the role of this new agency, now composed in many cases women who migrate to other countries or continents, precisely to address these reproductive activities, is recognized. Finally, reference is made to some of the new conceptual and theoretical developments in this area.

Modelling and simulating retail management practices: a first approach

Multi-agent systems offer a new and exciting way of understanding the world of work. We apply agent-based modeling and simulation to investigate a set of problems in a retail context. Specifically, we are working to understand the relationship between people management practices on the shop-floor and retail performance. Despite the fact we are working within a relatively novel and complex domain, it is clear that using an agent-based approach offers great potential for improving organizational capabilities in the future. Our multi-disciplinary research team has worked closely with one of the UK’s top ten retailers to collect data and build an understanding of shop-floor operations and the key actors in a department (customers, staff, and managers). Based on this case study we have built and tested our first version of a retail branch agent-based simulation model where we have focused on how we can simulate the effects of people management practices on customer satisfaction and sales. In our experiments we have looked at employee development and cashier empowerment as two examples of shop floor management practices. In this paper we describe the underlying conceptual ideas and the features of our simulation model. We present a selection of experiments we have conducted in order to validate our simulation model and to show its potential for answering “what-if” questions in a retail context. We also introduce a novel performance measure which we have created to quantify customers’ satisfaction with service, based on their individual shopping experiences.

Aedes aegypti Pharate First Instar Aseasonal Quiescence Cues Anticipatory Plasticity with Implications for Urban Vector Ecology and Control

The eggs of the dengue fever vector Aedes aegypti possess the ability to undergo an extended quiescence period hosting a fully developed first instar larvae within its chorion. As a result of this life history stage, pharate larvae can withstand months of dormancy inside the egg where they depend on stored reserves of maternal origin. This adaptation known as pharate first instar quiescence, allows A. aegypti to cope with fluctuations in water availability. An examination of this fundamental adaptation has shown that there are trade-offs associated with it. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are frequently associated with urban habitats that may contain metal pollution. My research has demonstrated that the duration of this quiescence and the extent of nutritional depletion associated with it affects the physiology and survival of larvae that hatch in a suboptimal habitat; nutrient reserves decrease during pharate first instar quiescence and alter subsequent larval and adult fitness. The duration of quiescence compromises metal tolerance physiology and is coupled to a decrease in metallothionein mRNA levels. My findings also indicate that even low levels of environmentally relevant larval metal stress alter the parameters that determine vector capacity. My research has also demonstrated that extended pharate first instar quiescence can elicit a plastic response resulting in an adult phenotype distinct from adults reared from short quiescence eggs. Extended pharate first instar quiescence affects the performance and reproductive fitness of the adult female mosquito as well as the nutritional status of its progeny via maternal effects in an adaptive manner, i.e., anticipatory phenotypic plasticity results as a consequence of the duration of pharate first instar quiescence and alternative phenotypes may exist for this mosquito with quiescence serving as a cue possibly signaling the environmental conditions that follow a dry period. M findings may explain, in part, A. aegypti’s success as a vector and its geographic distribution and have implications for its vector capacity and control.

Unity in Christ or Pan-Europeanism?:Nathan Söderblom and the ecumenical peace movement in the interwar period

In the summer of 2014 the Swedish Church is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the appointment of Nathan Söderblom as archbishop of Uppsala, and thus head of the Swedish church organisation. As a Lutheran with an enormously broad-minded and broad-reaching approach to ecumenical understanding and community-building, Söderblom shot to prominence in the interwar period not only because of his ecumenical engagement, calling for an evangelical catholicity so stand side by side with the Roman catholic and Orthodox catholic traditions, but also because of his comprehensive secular engagement for peace and understanding between peoples. In the latter context he also acquired a solid reputation as a perhaps less prominent but still noteworthy figure in the history of European integration. This article investigates how, why and to what extent Söderblom’s ecumenical and secular engagements were intertwined. The first part discusses how his biographical and academic background led to such staunch ecumenical positions, while the second part focuses on the secular engagement, which was perceived by Söderblom as necessary to make progress on the ecumenical front in the practical political realities of the 1920s. The final part, comparing and contrasting Söderblom’s views with those of Count Richard von Coudenhove-Calergi and the Pan-European Union, demonstrates why Söderblom’s engagement for Europe had to be limited: unity in Christ is by definition global in nature and therefore cannot be continent-specific.

Designing intrinsically photostable low band gap polymers:a smart tool combining EPR spectroscopy and DFT calculations

A rapid and efficient method to identify the weak points of the complex chemical structure of low band gap (LBG) polymers, designed for efficient solar cells, when submitted to light exposure is reported. This tool combines Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) using the 'spin trapping method' coupled with density functional theory modelling (DFT). First, the nature of the short life-time radicals formed during the early-stages of photo-degradation processes are determined by a spin-trapping technique. Two kinds of short life-time radical (R and R′O) are formed after 'short-duration' illumination in an inert atmosphere and in ambient air, respectively. Second, simulation allows the identification of the chemical structures of these radicals revealing the most probable photochemical process, namely homolytical scission between the Si atom of the conjugated skeleton and its pendent side-chains. Finally, DFT calculations confirm the homolytical cleavage observed by EPR, as well as the presence of a group that is highly susceptible to photooxidative attack. Therefore, the synergetic coupling of a spin trapping method with DFT calculations is shown to be a rapid and efficient method for providing unprecedented information on photochemical mechanisms. This approach will allow the design of LBG polymers without the need to trial the material within actual solar cell devices, an often long and costly screening procedure.

Celiac disease in children from Madeira island and its prevalence in first degree relatives

Context - It is well recognized that celiac disease is an immune-mediated systemic disorder highly prevalent among relatives of celiac patients. Objectives - The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of celiac disease in a group of first degree relatives of celiac children, and to access the frequency of human leukocyte antigen HLA-DQ2 and DQ8 in celiac disease patients and their affected relatives. Methods - A survey was conducted of 39 children with celiac disease with follow-up in the Pediatric outpatient’s clinic of Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital, in Madeira Island, Portugal. Were invited 110 first degree relatives to undergo serological screen for celiac disease with IgA antibody to human recombinant tissue transglutaminase (IgA-TGG) quantification. In all seropositive relatives, small intestinal biopsy and HLA typing was recommended. Results - HLA- typing was performed in 38 celiac patients, 28/74% DQ2 positive, 1/2% DQ8 positive and 9/24% incomplete DQ2. Positive IgA-TGG was found in five out of the 95 relatives, and CD was diagnosed in three of them. Three relatives had the presence of HLA-DQ2, two were DQ2 incomplete (DQB1*02). Conclusion - The prevalence of celiac disease among first degree celiac patients´ relatives was 3.1%, 4.5 times higher than the general Portuguese population (0,7%) witch reinforces the need of extensive diagnostic screening in this specific group. HLA-DQ2 typing may be a tool in the diagnostic approach.

First reproductive and productive results on “Ribatejano pig”

The present trail aimed to study the effect of crossbreeding between Alentejano (AL) and Bísaro (BI) swine breeds (“Ribatejano pig”) on some reproductive and productive traits. Nine AL gilts and sows and six BI gilts were crossed with BI and AL boars, respectively. Mating and farrowing dates, prolificacy and litter size at 28d were registered for all sows. The pregnancy length of AL sows was shorter (111±0.4d vs 113.7±0.5d; p=0.002) than the observed on BI females. The BI gilts presented higher prolificacy rate than AL on both total born (11.0±1.0 vs 6.7±0.8; P=0.004) and born alive piglets (10.0±1.0 vs 6.7±0.8; p=0.026). The mortality rate was similar in both genotypes (p=0.255) being on average 12%, therefore at 28d after farrowing the litter size remained higher in BI sows (8.5±0.8 vs 6.1±0.6; p= 0.032). A subset of each genotype (4 gilts) was supervised during farrowing and lactation (until 28d) and piglets were weighed at birth, 24h and 28d of live. Farrowing length was not significantly different (p=0.253) between genotypes, averaging 97±22 min. When compared to ALBI (AL x BI) piglets, the BIAL (BI x AL) piglets were heavier at birth (1402±46g vs 1209±36g; p=0.002). Colostrum intake of piglets per kg of birth weight on the first 24h of life was similar between genotypes (p=0.735) being 289±15g for ALBI and 281±19g for BIAL piglets. The growth rate of piglets from birth to 28d and piglet weight at 28d was not different between genotypes (p=0.161 and p=0.091) averaging 195±6g and 6761±181g, respectively. Litter weight at 28d tended (P=0.06) to be higher on ALBI litters (56.6±4.0kg) than BIAL litters (43.2±4.0kg). This results obtained within the frame of Treasure project* are, at our knowledge, the first data of these crossbred piglets and could be used in future as reference for further studies and also for farmers that may try these cross on a commercial basis.

Gender and the Australian parliament

This dissertation by publication which focuses on gender and the Australian federal parliament has resulted in the submission of three refereed journal articles. Data for the study were obtained from 30 semi-structured interviews undertaken in 2006 with fifteen (15) male and fifteen (15) female members of the Australian parliament. The first of the articles is methodological and has been accepted for publication in the Australian Journal of Political Science. The paper argues that feminist political science is guided by five important principles. These are placing gender at the centre of the research, giving emphasis to women’s voice, challenging the public/private divide, using research to transform society and taking a reflexive approach to positionality. It is the latter principle, that of the importance of taking a reflexive approach to research which I explore in the paper. Through drawing on my own experiences as a member of the House of Representatives (Forde 1987-1996) I reflexively investigate the intersections between my background and my identity as a researcher. The second of the articles views the data through the lens of Acker’s (1990) notion of the ‘gendered organization’ which posits that there are four dimensions by which organizations are gendered. These are via the division of labour, through symbols, images and ideologies, by workplace interactions and through the gendered components of individual identity. In this paper which has been submitted to the British Journal of Political Science, each of Acker’s (1990) dimensions is examined in terms of the data from interviews with male and female politicians. The central question investigated is thus to what extent does the Australian parliament conform to Acker’s (1990) concept of the ‘gendered organization’? The third of the papers focuses specifically on data from interviews with the 15 male politicians and investigates how they view gender equality and the Australian parliament. The article, which has been submitted to the European Journal of Political Science asks to what extent contemporary male politicians view the Australian parliament as gendered? Discourse analysis that is ‘ways of viewing’ (Bacchi, 1999, p. 40) is used as an approach to analyse the data. Three discursive frameworks by which male politicians view gender in the Australian parliament are identified. These are: that the parliament is gendered as masculine but this is unavoidable; that the parliament is gendered as feminine and women are actually advantaged; and that the parliament is gender neutral and gender is irrelevant. It is argued that collectively these framing devices operate to mask the many constraints which exist to marginalise women from political participation and undermine attempts to address women’s political disadvantage as political participants. The article concludes by highlighting the significance of the paper beyond the Australian context and calling for further research which names and critiques political men and their discourses on gender and parliamentary practices and processes.

Formative and summative assessment and the notion of constructive alignment

This paper discusses the different perceptions of first year accounting students about their tutorial activities and their engagements in assessment. As the literature suggests, unless participation in learning activities forms part of graded assessment, it is often difficult to engage students in these activities. Using an action research model, this paper reports the study of first year accounting students' responses to action-oriented learning tasks in tutorials. The paper focuses on the importance of aligning curriculum objectives, learning and teaching activities and assessment, i.e. the notion of constructive alignment. However, as the research findings indicate, without support at institutional level, applying constructive alignment to facilitate quality student learning outcomes is a difficult task. Thus, the impacts of policy constraints on curriculum issues are also discussed, focusing on the limitations faced by tutors and their lack of involvement in curriculum development.