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The expected economic growth of the EU27 and China by 2025 will lead to a further increase in the share of the Chinese economy in world GDP and the overtaking of the EU economy in 2022. The main contribution of this paper is the presentation and analysis of IMF projected GDPs for China and the EU27 in the period 2020-25, and assessing the impact of divergent GDP growth trends of the two economic giants on the further development in their bilateral relations. Namely, since the change in the global economic position causes geopolitical consequences, it is clear that the very expectation of such trends influences the decisions of political and economic actors today - such as the signing of the investment agreement between Brussels and Beijing, despite Washington's opposition. The EU's response to China's growing influence could be an attempt to mitigate Beijing's strategic challenge by creating a stronger transatlantic partnership, but it is uncertain that Washington will be willing to offer significant concessions to Brussels. An alternative scenario could involve strengthening the EU's "strategic autonomy", which would imply an attempt at a more independent geopolitical positioning, which would enable better relations with China and easier access to the country's huge market. The EU, the world's largest trading bloc and the largest trading partner of as many as 80 countries, will find it difficult to come to terms with its subordinate role in Sino-US competition and will remain focused on exploring synergies with both powers.

This study aimed to assess pumpkin leaves as a protein source and determine the feasibility of these proteins to form complexes with alginate for the encapsulation of folic acid. Different isolation protocols, two based on isoelectric precipitation (one with thermal pretreatment and the other with alkali pre-extraction) and one based on stepwise precipitation with ammonium sulfate, were compared regarding the yield and structural properties of the obtained leaf protein concentrates (LPC). The highest purity of protein was achieved using the thermal-acid protocol and the salting-out protocol at 40% saturation. RuBisCO protein was detected by SDS-PAGE in all LPCs, except for the fractions obtained through salting-out at saturation level ≥ 60%. Complexation of the LPC solutions (1 mg/mL) and sodium alginate solution (10 mg/mL) was monitored as a function of LPC:alginate ratio (2:1, 5:1, and 10:1) and pH (2–8) by zeta-potential measurements and confirmed by FT-IR analysis. Based on the results, the strongest interaction between LPCs and alginate occurred at a pH between 2.20 and 2.80 and an LPC:alginate ratio of 10:1. Complexation resulted in particle yields of 42–71% and folic acid entrapment of 46–92%. The LPC-folic acid interactions elucidated by computational protein–ligand docking demonstrated the high potential of RuBisCO as a biocarrier material for folic acid. The in vitro release study in the simulated gastrointestinal fluids indicated that complexes would be stable in gastric conditions, while folic acid would be gradually released in the intestinal fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes a new electronic conditioning circuit based on the current-processing technique for accurate and reliable humidity measurement, without post-processing requirements. Pseudobrookite nanocrystalline (Fe2TiO5) thick film was used as capacitive humidity transducer in the proposed design. The interface integrated circuit was realized in TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology, but commercial devices were used for practical realization. The sensing principle of the sensor was obtained by converting the information on environment humidity into a frequency variable square-wave electric current signal. The proposed solution features high linearity, insensitivity to temperature, as well as low power consumption. The sensor has a linear function with relative humidity in the range of Relative Humidity (RH) 30-90 %, error below 1.5 %, and sensitivity 8.3 x 1014 Hz/F evaluated over the full range of changes. A fast recovery without the need of any refreshing methods was observed with a change in RH. The total power dissipation of readout circuitry was 1 mW.