Carmen Costea

Traditional foods from the Black Sea region as a potential source of minerals

BACKGROUND In the past few years, minerals have assumed great importance in public health. As a consequence, considerable research has been carried out to better understand their physiological role and the health consequences of mineral-deficient diets, to establish criteria for defining the degree of public health severity of malnutrition, and to develop prevention and control strategies. In most countries, there is limited information on the mineral content of traditional foods, and consequently it is very difficult to estimate mineral intake across these countries. RESULTS Ten minerals were quantified in 33 traditional foods from Black Sea area countries. Our results indicate a considerable variability among the analysed traditional foods; nevertheless, the most abundant components were sodium (ranging from 40.0 to 619 mg 100 g(-1), for kvass southern and herbal dish, respectively), potassium (varied between 45.5 mg 100 g(-1) for millet ale and 938 mg 100 g(-1) for roasted sunflower seeds), and phosphorus (22.2 mg 100 g(-1) and 681 mg 100 g(-1) for sauerkraut and roasted sunflower seeds, respectively). CONCLUSION This is the first study that provides validated data on the mineral content for 33 traditional foods from Black Sea area countries, which is important in order to elucidate their role in the dietary pattern of populations and to preserve and promote these foods.

AN EVOLUTIONARY GAME THEORY APPROACH TO MARKET COMPETITION AND COOPERATION

Evolutionary game theory can be attested as a practical apparatus in providing additional information on the workings of the open market and on the blueprint for dynamics in economic phenomena. Through an interdisciplinary approach to different game scenarios, the dependencies among market forces are observed, thus, being capable of offering insight on the incentives for adopting different behaviors. This paper takes use of the different factors that form the payoff of certain strategies which can be adopted by companies, and determines the prerequisites for cooperation or competition while all together constructing settings and predictions on the evolution of the phenomena. Determining the evolutionary stable strategy for different scenarios and looking at the way in which the probability of encountering a certain behavior is constructed, provide the possibility to determine the outcome of an ongoing evolutionary process. By studying the monotony of the probability function in respect to each of the factors that contribute to the payoffs, the study indicates that there is a positive relation between the percentage of population playing competitive strategies and market potential, costs, and risks of penalty for cooperation and a negative relation between this percentage and the disputed market share and supplementary winnings from arrangements.

Application of Tuncay's language teacher model to business-customer relations

It seems that what has been said by now about market and competitiveness does not fit perfectly with competences of getting the best of profit. Sometimes, the classical methods of fundamentals of management do not apply to individual companies that face irregular accommodation on the market. It is high time to replace the perfect business with the right one. New approaches and models may help in identifying new competition trends, changes for better application of purposes and proposals.

Complexity: new opportunities for understanding consumption

The daily life is developing under permanent changing. Always noticed by scientists, partially explained when studied, these changes influence life and activity no matter our personal opinion and approach. The influence can be a benefice and then we face the wealth. This paper demonstrates how to use the complexity theory to turn the new trends into societal advantages. The purpose is to propose a new way to analyse and model consumption from an economic point of view.

Advances on how to strengthen the peace within the Black Sea Region

The reason/motivation for addressing issues related to the Black Sea region is multifaceted and requires adequate explanations which will be refereed to here from Romania’s perspective as, a Black Sea area country by geography, historical background, cultural and social characteristics, is the bridge of economic and cultural changes, peace stability and military safety. Its economy and standard of life is sensible to the various factors and trends originating in the region. This paper aims to offer new perspectives in sustaining the idea of a valuable contribution of whom/what at the regional stability.

Emerging from crisis with new approaches to science of society

The recurrence of economic crises serves to illustrate the limits of neoclassical economics and the contemporary established models. Modern-day economic developments are highly influenced by the theory of complexity. In terms of thermodynamics, the inputs of the process consists in economically valuable natural resources and the outputs are worthless wastes; the matter-energy is absorbed in the economic process in a low entropy state which in turn is eliminated in a state of high entropy. Consequently, an updated methodology is required as all activities and overall economic processes demonstrate the inevitably entropic processes. Complex systems research represents the viable alternative for sustainable growth in the following decades. The concept of emergence represents an insightful argument against the well-planned and ordered nature of the social sciences universe. The study of complex systems, evolutionary economics and interdisciplinary research offers the possibility of new developments.

Carotenoids of Traditional Foods from Black Sea Area Countries and their relation with Immune Response

This project was funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.o 227118.

The MAS Models Use – An Imperative Approach to Build a New Economic Paradigm

Comparing with other sciences, the quantitative success of economic science is disappointing. People fly to the moon, the touch of a simple button can destroy more than half of the world and energy is extracted with the speed of light. During all these developments of science the economic achievements are somewhere near zero. The economists can praise however with the recurrent inability to predict and revaluate the crises and with the ability to create financial innovations. This study aims to present the benefits of the multi agent (MAS) models in the economy. In order to do that this paper intends to demonstrate the need of such models today. Furthermoreare presented some attempts of using multi agent models and concluding with the idea that the economy needs a scientific revolution, and this can be done using multi criteria or multi agent models.