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The effectiveness of foreign aid in promoting economic growth is one of the most controversial debates yielding different results in literature. Foreign aid has fluctuated to a large extent in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). However, the foreign aid-growth nexus is still inconclusive. The main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between foreign aid and economic growth in the case of the DRC, more specifically by investigating on both short and long run relationship to test the foreign aid-led growth hypothesis. The study employs the ARDL bounds test proposed by Pesaran, Shin and Smith (2001) which can be used with variables integrated of different orders unlike other cointegration tests. The study uses annual data for the period 1980-2019 sourced from the World Bank's World Development Indicators. GDP growth is used as a proxy for economic growth while the net official development assistance as a measure of foreign aid. Inflation, population growth, exports and oil rents are selected as control variables. The bounds test confirmed the presence of cointegration between the variables while the model passes the diagnostic tests. The study found that foreign aid has a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth in both the long-run and short-run. The main research findings support the view that foreign aid has been pro-growth in the DRC, but its contribution has been of small magnitude falling in the case of a worse scenario where foreign aid is mismanaged or dilapidated by the government of the recipient country. The control variables reported that inflation has a negative but insignificant effect on economic growth in both the long-run and short-run, oil rents and exports have a positive and significant impact on economic growth. Population growth is negatively and significantly correlated with economic growth. Considering these results, the research recommends that foreign assistance institutions continue to support DRC. A reduction in aid would negatively impact on the growth which is a major determinant of the overall development of the country. However, measures should be put in place to monitor the maximum effective utilization of foreign aid to avoid dilapidation and mismanagement. JEL Classifications: C22, E20, F35 Keywords: Foreign Aid, Economic Growth, ARDL, DRC., INTRODUCTION The official development assistance, as a measure of foreign aid, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declined significantly in the 1980s, and then almost suspended during the [...]

We have designed a highly twisted small thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitter PXZ-[alpha]-DK based on an [alpha]-diketone ([alpha]-DK) as a strong acceptor and phenoxazine (PXZ) as a strong donor to obtain red-shifted emission in comparison with the equivalent [alpha]-diketone linked to 9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine (DMAC). The PXZ-[alpha]-DK shows emission at 586 nm and DMAC-[alpha]-DK shows emission at 548 nm in 1,3-bis(N-carbazolyl)benzene (mCP) host at 1.5 wt% doping of the emitter, with short-delayed lifetimes of 6.9 ls for PXZ-[alpha]-DK and 7.6 ls for DMAC-[alpha]-DK. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) fabricated using these emitters show green electroluminescence at 555 nm for DMAC-[alpha]-DK, with a maximum external quantum efficiency, [EQE.sub.max], of 6.3%, and orange electroluminescence at 585 nm for PXZ-[alpha]-DK, with an [EQE.sub.max] of 0.8%. We corroborate the optoelectronic properties of these emitters with DFT calculations. Key words: TADF, OLEDs, [alpha]-diketone, red-shifted emission. Nous avons concu un emetteur de fluorescence retardee activee thermiquement (TADF pour Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence) a haut degre de torsion, PXZ-[alpha]-DK, a partir d'une [alpha]-dicetone (aDK) comme groupe accepteur fort et de la phenoxazine (PXZ) comme groupe donneur fort pour obtenir une emission deplacee vers le rouge par rapport a l'analogue constitue de l' adicetone liee a la 9,9dimethyl-9,10dihydroacridine (DMAC). La PXZaDK presente une emission a 586 nm et la DMACaDK, une emission a 548 nm dans une matrice hote de 1,3bis(N-carbazolyl)benzene (mCP) a un taux de dopage de l'emetteur de 1,5 % p/p, le temps de vie retarde de courte duree etant de 6,9 ls pour la PXZaDK et de 7,6 ls pour la DMACaDK. Les diodes electroluminescentes organiques (DELO) fabriquees a l'aide de ces emetteurs presentent une electroluminescence verte a 555 nm avec une efficacite quantique externe maximale ([EQE.sub.max]) de 6,3 % dans le cas de la DMACaDK, et une electroluminescence orange a 585 nm avec une [EQE.sub.max] de 0,8 % dans le cas la PXZaDK. Nous corroborons les proprietes optoelectroniques de ces emetteurs par des calculs DFT. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : TADF, DELO, [alpha]-dicetone, emission deplacee vers le rouge., Introduction Since the seminal report of Adachi and co-workers in 2012, (1) organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) employing organic thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters have received significant attention because of [...]

In this study, we measured the expression of genes related to the phenylpropanoid pathway and ascorbate oxidation by qRT-PCR to explore the mechanism of nutraceutical compounds enhancement in pak choi during stress treatments. The expression of most phenylpropanoid biosynthesis related genes (PAL, C4H, CHS, CHI, F3H1, DFR, and ANS1) was up-regulated in plants treated with NaCl, solar salt, and UV-B radiation, compared with the untreated controls under both white light and light emitting diode illumination. Moreover, CHS and ANS1 were expressed at levels 15 and 95 times higher than the untreated control. The expression of the ascorbate oxidation related gene tAPX was also up-regulated in the NaCl and UV-B treated samples compared with the control under both light conditions. By comparison, the expression of APX1 was down-regulated during the stress treatment under both light conditions. Total chlorophyll and total carotenoid contents were unaffected by the stress treatments, and there was no significant difference in the maximum quantum yield ([F.sub.v]/[F.sub.m]) between the stress treatments and the untreated controls. These results suggest that the expression of genes involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and ascorbate oxidation correlates with the previously reported enhanced production of phenolic compounds in pak choi plants subjected to stress treatments. Key words: LED light, salt, UV-B, pak choi, gene expression, polyphenols. Dans cette étude, les auteurs ont mesuré l'expression de gènes reliés à la voie des phénylpropanoïdes et de l'oxydation de l'ascorbate par qRT-PCR afin d'explorer le mécanisme responsable de l'accroissement de composés nutraceutiques dans le pak-choï lors de différentes conditions de stress. L'expression de la plupart des gènes reliés à la biosynthèse des phénylpropanoïdes (PAL, C4H, CHS, CHI, F3H1, DFR et ANS1) était régulée à la hausse chez les plants traités au NaCl, au sel marin et au rayonnement UV-B comparativement à des contrôles non traités, sous la lumière blanche ou à DEL. De plus, les gènes CHS et ANS1 étaient exprimés à des niveaux 15 et 95 fois plus élevés que ceux des contrôles non traités. L'expression du gène tAPX, relié à l'oxydation de l'ascorbate, était aussi régulée à la hausse chez les échantillons traités au NaCl et au rayonnement UV-B comparativement au contrôle, sous les deux types d'éclairage. D'un autre côté, l'expression d'APX1 était régulée à la baisse par les différentes conditions de stress sous les deux types d'éclairage. Les contenus totaux en chlorophylle et en caroténoïdes n'étaient pas affectés par les conditions de stress et il n'y avait pas de différence significative dans le rendement quantique maximal ([F.sub.v]/[F.sub.m]) entre les conditions de stress et les contrôles non traités. Ces résultats suggèrent que l'expression de gènes impliqués dans la biosynthèse des phénylpropanoïdes et l'oxydation de l'ascorbate est corrélée à l'accroissement précédemment rapporté de la production de composés phénoliques dans les plants de pak-choï soumis à différentes conditions de stress. [Traduit par la Rédaction] Mots-clés: lumière à DEL, sel, UV-B, pak-choï, expression génique, polyphénols., Introduction Pak choi (Brassica campestris L.) is a leafy vegetable of the Brassicaceae family that is consumed raw, cooked, and after fermentation (Harbaum et al. 2007a). Brassica vegetables play an [...]