The Role of International Actors in Post-Communist Countries: Coercion or Persuasion? The Transfer of Hospital Design Standards by International Organizations and Private Firms

International audienceThis paper explores the role of international actors in post-communist transformation. Taking the case of hospital design standards, it explains how the national actors choose to leave aside the national regulations and to adopt foreign technical standards. The paper analyzes the adoption of Western countries' standards for the modernization of healthcare facilities in Ukraine and Moldova. An in-depth comparative case study of two projects revealed that national architects of these post-soviet countries use foreign standards. While the change of standards is a similar outcome in both cases, the international actors involved are different. Our findings suggest that while both international organizations and private actors diffuse foreign technical standards in post-soviet countries, the processes is rather different. Whereas international organizations dispose of coercive means to impose foreign solutions, private actors need to negotiate and to convince for their adoption. Drawing on recent debates on policy diffusion and transfer (Dolowitz and Marsh 2012; 2000, Simmons and al. 2008, Stone 2010, 2012), the results shed light on “carriers” of institutional arrangements among different political systems

Institutional Transfer from the European Union Actors to Ukraine and Moldova: the Case of Hospital Design

This article presents the main points of my PhD research on institutional change in Post- Soviet states. Looking at the case of the hospital design in Ukraine and Moldova, I examine the main actors and institutions that induced the process of change following the Soviet Union's collapse. The article consists of two parts. First, I introduce the theoretical framework to study the postsoviet transformations. In line with the historical institutionalism, I present the hypothesis that both Ukraine and Moldova developed similar institutional characteristics following their independence in 1991. The second hypothesis concerns the role of external actors in the observed changes. I challenge in particular the actions of international companies. I use the Europeanization and institutional transfer concepts to explore these exogenous sources of change. Second, I analyse the design processes of two hospital modernisation projects in Ukraine and Moldova. In a comparative perspective, I present the actors involved, the difficulties in modernising the hospital regarding the inherited paths as well as the solutions advanced in order to implement a change. An introduction to these case studies will allow conducting an in-depth study of the involvement of international actors in the post-soviet transformations. This article examines the process of institutional change in post-soviet countries since 1991 to 2010. It uses the growing body of literature on historical institutionalism, europeanisation and diffusion while exploring the presence of exogenous actors in the hospital design transformation in Moldova and Ukraine

Parametric FEM simulation of composite barrier FTJs under external bias at room temperature

A study on a parametrized model of a composite barrier FTJ (three-interface system, with a non-polar dielectric layer) under an external bias voltage and at room temperature, using FEM-based simulations, was performed. The approach involves the Thomas-Fermi model assuming incomplete screening of polarization charges for building the energy barrier profile, and numerically simulates the electron transport through the barrier by bias-voltage-dependent tunneling, using Tsu-Esaki formulation. That naturally include the temperature dependent contributions to the total current density. The TER coefficient and current densities are computed considering variation of a large set of parameters that describe the composite barrier FTJ system in realistic physical range of values with respect to a reference (prototypical) system. In this study, the parametric simulations were performed starting from selected data reported on the SRO/STO/BTO/SRO heterostructure. The most important results of our work can be stated as follows: i) The FEM simulations prove to be reliable approach when we are interested in the prediction of FTJ characteristics at temperatures close to 300 K, and ii) We show that several configurations with large TER values may be predicted, but at the expense of very low current densities in the ON state. We suggest that the results may be useful for assessing the FTJ performances at ambient temperature, as well as to design preoptimized FTJs by using different combinations of materials to comply with a set of properties of a specific model

Elaborarea articolelor de îmbracăminte ecologica prin utilizarea tehnicii de împâslire

Fişierul ataşat conţine: Rezumat, Summary, Cuprins.Scopul cercetarii consta in analiza si elaborarea tehnologiilor de fabricare a materialelor împâslite si modelarea confectiilor in tehnica de împâslire; stabilirea si sistematizarea factorilor, care influenteaza privind procesul tehnologic de impaslire si competitivitatea produselor impâslite.The objective of present study is to analyze and develop manufacturing technologies of felted materials and clothing modeling in the felting technique: setting and systematization of factors that influence on the technological process and competitiveness of felting and products

Moduri de reprezentare a liniilor

Lucrarea descrie modalități de definire a unei linii. Într-un plan, linia poate fi definită ca graficul unei funcții sau graficul unei ecuații. Aceasta poate fi reprezentată ca traiectoria mișcării unui punct sau, mai general, într-un mod parametric. În spațiu, linia poate fi definită ca intersecția a două suprafețe sau într-un mod parametric. Aspectul unei linii poate fi modificat prin modificarea anumitor parametri ai acesteia. Acest lucru este arătat prin exemplul unui astroid

The management of continuous improvement at SC “Meta-Corp GRP” SRL

Fişierul ataşat conţine: Rezumat, Abstract, Cuprins, Introducere, Bibliografie.In lucrarea data este analizata problematica managementului îmbunătățirii continue. Sunt definite cauzele si factorii ce influenteaza necesitatea implimentării îmbunătățirii continue . Printre ele sunt mentionate problemele organizatorice a îmbunătățirii continue și etapele înbunătățir ii continue. Obiectivismul îmbunătățirii continue nu exclude necesitatea managementului îmbunătățirii, din contra, managementul îmbunătățirii este o cale eficienta de raspunde adecvat la necesitatea îmbunătățirii prin utilizarea diferitor modele de management si procese bine structurate. Se arata ca succesul in companii este atunci când se fac schimbari și se implimenteaza diferite procese noi care ajută la dezvoltarea companiei .This paper analyzes the issue of change management.The causes and factors that influence the necessity of continuous improvement are defined. Among them are the organizational problems of continuous improvement and the stages of continuous improvement. The object of continuous improvement does not exclude the need for improvement management, on the contrary, the management of the improvement is an effective way of responding adequately to the need for improvement through the use of different management models and well-structured processes. It is shown that the successes in the companies are when changes are made and new processes are implemented that help the company develop

Rapport d'étude : Les conflits d'intérêts au sein des comités d'expertise des agences fédérales américaines: Le cas de la FDA et de l'EPA

Ce rapport étudie la législation américaine en matière de conflits d'intérêts au sein de l'expertise publique en prenant le cas de deux agences fédérales américaine: la FDA (Food Drug Administration) et l'EPA (Environment Protection Agency). Le rapport s'appuie sur l'analyse approfondie de données qualitatives, collectées essentiellement sur place, dans le cadre d'un voyage d'étude de trois mois aux Etats-Unis : textes législatifs américains en matière d'éthique des fonctionnaires de l'exécutif, entretiens semi-directifs avec des hauts-responsables des agences fédérales et représentants du milieu associatif. Constitué en trois parties, le rapport présente dans un premier temps les principaux textes législatifs encadrant les conflits d’intérêts des experts aux Etats-Unis (loi FACA, dispositions du Code Pénal, Code de déontologie des fonctionnaires de l'Etat). Dans un deuxième temps, sont présentées les réglementations en matière de conflits d’intérêts émises spécifiquement par les agences fédérales EPA et FDA. Enfin, le rapport aborde les pratiques de gestion des conflits d’intérêts par les agences fédérales FDA et EPA. Les résultats de notre recherche empirique montrent que si de nombreux outils permettent d'encadrer et de gérer les conflits financiers, les agences fédérales disposent en revanche de moins d'outils et de ressources pour évaluer les autres types de conflits d’intérêts (avancement carrière, avantage professionnel pour son organisation, opinions personnelles engendrant un biais, croyances et convictions…)

Modeling clothes form from felted materials

Domain: Textile products and technologies, confections and design.These clothing items represent original ecofriendly models, made by felting wool fiber, which assured increased consumption properties of the obtained garments. In the process of designing these felted items some special drafting and modeling methods were used, as well as different embellishment techniques.Produsele de îmbrăcăminte reprezintă modele de autor ecologice realizate în tehnica de împâslire din fibre de lână, ce a asigurat proprietățile de consum sporite ale modelelor obținute. În elaborarea modelelor au fost utilizate metodele specifice de modelare a formelor vestimentare din materiale împâslite cu folosirea diferitor tehnici de garnisire a acestor materiale

Priming with Vitamin U Enhances Cold Tolerance of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

Priming may be an efficient pre-treatment of plants in order to enhance their ability to cope with unfavourable growth conditions, and to improve defensive metabolism through elevated levels of protective substances which may also act as health-promoting agents upon human consumption. The aim of this work was to evaluate the beneficial influence of priming with the naturally occurring, but scarcely known vitamin U (S-methylmethionine) on cold stress tolerance of lettuce (the frequently grown ‘May King’ cultivar). Effects on germination, photosynthetic efficiency, as well as on health-promoting carotenoid and vitamin C contents were investigated. Photosynthetic capacity, strongly related to productivity, was evaluated with parameters of induced chlorophyll fluorescence and of leaf gas exchange through stomata, using plants grown in hydroponic cultures. Priming with vitamin U significantly compensated for the delaying effect of low temperature (5 °C) on seed germination, as well as for inhibition of light-converting photochemical reactions and of carbon dioxide assimilation by cold stress. Use of vitamin U to prime lettuce plantlets for low temperature stress resulted in an elevated content of carotenoid pigments and of vitamin C in leaves, which improve the quality of consumed lettuce with respect to the health-promoting capacity. This beneficial influence of vitamin U was not proportional with its concentration (2 mM had no stronger effects than 0.25 mM), so small amounts of this substance were sufficient for a sustained efficiency in promoting hardening against chilling temperatures. This is the first report on priming of lettuce for cold tolerance by using S-methylmethionine (vitamin U), with a possible application in improvement of crop quality and productivity