How Can the Modern State Combine the Adverse International Conditions, Technological Disruption, and the Emergence of AI With the Social Policy?

In 2022-2023, barely a little over a decade after the global financial crisis that affected credit markets, as the world is still recovering from the economic recession caused by COVID-19, we are dealing with the effects of the “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine on people living in different parts of the world. After a brief analysis of the international legal basis of the situation, I will focus on the example of Hungary to explore how governments can effectively assist their citizens in difficult economic situations using tools created by science and technology while minimizing the need for additional resources.

Grassland-type ecosystem stability in China differs under the influence of drought and wet events

Ecological stability is a core issue in ecological research and holds significant implications forhumanity. The increased frequency and intensity of drought and wet climate events resulting from climatechange pose a major threat to global ecological stability. Variations in stability among different ecosystemshave been confirmed, but it remains unclear whether there are differences in stability within the sameterrestrial vegetation ecosystem under the influence of climate events in different directions and intensities.China's grassland ecosystem includes most grassland types and is a good choice for studying this issue.This study used the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index-12 (SPEI-12) to identify thedirections and intensities of different types of climate events, and based on Normalized DifferenceVegetation Index (NDVI), calculated the resistance and resilience of different grassland types for 30consecutive years from 1990 to 2019 (resistance and resilience are important indicators to measurestability). Based on a traditional regression model, standardized methods were integrated to analyze theimpacts of the intensity and duration of drought and wet events on vegetation stability. The resultsshowed that meadow steppe exhibited the highest stability, while alpine steppe and desert steppe had thelowest overall stability. The stability of typical steppe, alpine meadow, temperate meadow was at anintermediate level. Regarding the impact of the duration and intensity of climate events on vegetationecosystem stability for the same grassland type, the resilience of desert steppe during drought was mainlyaffected by the duration. In contrast, the impact of intensity was not significant. However, alpine steppewas mainly affected by intensity in wet environments, and duration had no significant impact. Ourconclusions can provide decision support for the future grassland ecosystem governance.

Inter-agency government information sharing under data-driven blockchain framework

The inter-agency government information sharing(IAGIS)plays an important role in improving service and efficiency of government agencies.Currently,there is still no effective and secure way for data-driven IAGIS to fulfill dynamic demands of information sharing between government agencies.Motivated by blockchain and data mining,a data-driven framework is proposed for IAGIS in this paper.Firstly,the blockchain is used as the core to design the whole framework for monitoring and preventing leakage and abuse of government information,in order to guarantee information security.Secondly,a four-layer architecture is designed for implementing the proposed framework.Thirdly,the classical data mining algorithms PageRank and Apriori are applied to dynamically design smart contracts for information sharing,for the purposed of flexibly adjusting the information sharing strategies according to the practical demands of government agencies for public management and public service.Finally,a case study is presented to illustrate the operation of the proposed framework.

Post-COVID-19 Challenges for Full-Time Employees in China: Job Insecurity, Workplace Anxiety and Work-Life Conflict

Background:Though the COVID-19 pandemic recedes,and our society gradually returns to normal,Chinese people’s work and lifestyles are still influenced by the“pandemic aftermath”.In the post-pandemic era,employees may feel uncertainty at work due to the changed organizational operations and management and perceive the external environment to be more dynamic.Both these perceptions may increase employees’negative emotions and contribute to conflicts between work and life.Drawing from the ego depletion theory,this study aimed to examine the impact of job insecurity during the post-pandemic era on employees’work-life conflicts,and the mediating effect of workplace anxiety in this relationship.Besides,this study also considered the uncertainty of the external macro environment as a boundary condition on the direct and indirect relationship between job insecurity and work-life conflicts.Methods:A two-wave questionnaire survey was conducted from October to December 2023 to collect data.MBA students and graduates from business school with full-time jobs are invited to report their perception of job insecurity,work anxiety,perceived environment uncertainty,and work-life conflict.This resulted in 253 valid responses.Data analysis was performed using the SPSS,Amos,and PROCESS.Results:The results showed that:(1)Employees’job insecurity would directly intensify the work-life conflict(B=0.275,p<0.001,95%CI[0.182,0.367]).(2)Employees’workplace anxiety mediates the relationship between job insecurity and work-life conflict(B=0.083,p<0.001,95%CI[0.047,0.130]).(3)The mediating effect of workplace anxiety between job insecurity and work-life conflict exists when perceived environmental uncertainty is high(B=0.049,95%CI[0.011,0.114]),while vanishes when perceived environmental uncertainty is low(B=0.024,95%CI[−0.005,0.068]).Conclusion:Job insecurity combined with perceived environmental uncertainty in the postpandemic era fuels employees’workplace anxiety and work-life conflicts.Post-pandemic trauma lingers,necessitating urgent attention and response.

Effects of Genetic Distance on International Trade:A Study from the Perspective of Cultural Heterogeneity

The bilateral trade barrier should include not only the geographical distance,but also the trade cost incurred by the transnational cultural heterogeneity.This paper takes the genetic distance,the measure of the genetic divergence between ethnic groups to a recent common ancestor,as the measure of cultural heterogeneity,and explains the validity of this measure.It uses the national weighting method to calculate the genetic distances between China and 110 countries,and carries out an empirical analysis of panel data from1996 to 2010 on the basis of the gravity model of trade.According to the results,when variables such as geographic distance are controlled,the genetic distance has a significant impediment on bilateral trade flows,and the impediment shows an increasing trend with the passage of time.There is a substitution effect between the impacts of genetic distance and geographic distance on the bilateral trade.Further analysis shows that the negative impact of the genetic distance on the trade flows between China and 24 developed countries is more significant.This paper uses the genetic distance among the main ethnic groups in the year of1500 as instrumental variable,and the panel Ⅳ estimation solves the problem of endogenity of the variables.The empirical results are robust.

Uncertainty aversion and farmers' innovative seed adoption:Evidence from a field experiment in rural China

Based on the microdata of 705 wheat farmers in the Loess Plateau, this study empirically analyzes the impact of uncertainty on farmers' adoption of innovative seeds using a field experiment. The results indicate that farmers are generally ambiguity-averse and risk-averse. In addition, farmers with higher ambiguity aversion and risk aversion are less likely to adopt innovative wheat seeds, where their risk aversion plays a dominant role. Enhancing information access will alleviate the negative influence of ambiguity aversion on farmers' adoption of innovative seeds, and interlinked insurance and credit contracts will be beneficial to ease the adverse effect of risk aversion on the adoption of innovative wheat seeds. Meanwhile, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the inhibitory effects of ambiguity aversion and risk aversion on innovative seed adoption are more significant among farmers with lower education and household income.The government can establish both ex-ante and ex-post relevant guarantee mechanisms to help farmers preferably cope with various uncertainties in the production process, remitting farmers' ambiguity aversion and risk aversion to enhance new agricultural technology adoption rates.

Rate of Patient Delay among Students with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in China: A Meta-Analysis

Objective: To systematically review the rate of patient delay of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients among students in China. Methods: Databases including Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and WANFANG DATA were electronically searched to collect cross-sectional studies on the incidence of delayed consultation in students with PTB in China from January 1, 2000, to November 15, 2022. Two researchers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed by Stata 16.0 software. Results: In total, 60 cross-sectional studies with 260,707 cases involving 136,701 delayed consultation PTB patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the rate of patient delay was 46.4% (95% CI 44.3% to 48.4%) among students with PTB in China. Results of subgroup analyses showed that: 1) The rates were 46.8% and 50.4% for male and female students, respectively. 2) The rates for the East, Central and West parts of China were 42.3%, 45.6% and 50.5%, respectively. 3) The rates were increased first and then decreased during 2007 to 2020. 4) The rates of students from primary school, junior high school, senior high school and university were 50.3%, 49.8%, 40.7% and 44.9%, respectively. 5) The rates for the Han and the other nationalities were 50.3% and 53.9%, respectively. 6) The rates for local and non-local students were 47.2% and 50.5%, respectively. 7) The rates of patients detected by consultation due to symptoms, recommendation due to symptoms, referral, tracking and healthy physical examination were 50.5%, 51.6%, 46.6%, 55.6% and 16.2%, respectively. 8) The rates of patients with initial PTB and retreatment PTB were 53.1% and 59.6%, respectively. 9) The rates of patients with positive etiology, negative etiology and without etiological results were 55.9%, 47.0% and 51.6%, respectively. 10) The rates of severe and non-severe patients were 59.4% and 52.9%, respectively. Conclusion: The patient delay rate for Chinese students with PTB is generally at a high level. There are substantial differences in the patient delay rate for students with PTB among different genders, regions, study stages, nationalities, household registration types, detection methods, and treatment classifications.

Study on Carbon Emission Efficiency Evaluation and Influencing Factors of Chinese Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry

To measure the carbon emission efficiency of China’s pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, explore the factors affecting the carbon emission efficiency of China’s pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, and provide reference for improving the carbon emission efficiency of China’s pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and promoting the government to formulate macro policies. Based on the data of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in 30 provinces of China from 2010 to 2019, and based on the SBM model and ML (Malmquist-Luenberger) index model, the carbon emission efficiency of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry was calculated and its dynamic change was investigated, and the Tobit model was further used to explore the influencing factors of the carbon emission efficiency of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The carbon emission efficiency of China’s inter-provincial pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has steadily improved. The carbon emission efficiency of the eastern region is higher than that of the western region, and that of the western region is higher than that of the central region. The eastern region is dominated by technological progress, and there is room for improvement in technological efficiency. The central and western regions are dominated by technological efficiency. Compared with technological efficiency, technological progress needs to be further improved. Environmental regulation, industrial agglomeration and technological innovation level positively affect carbon emission efficiency, while foreign investment level has no significant impact on carbon emission efficiency.

Optimal investment for the defined-contribution pension with stochastic salary under a CEV model

In this paper, we study the optimal investment strategy of defined-contribution pension with the stochastic salary. The investor is allowed to invest in a risk-free asset and a risky asset whose price process follows a constant elasticity of variance model. The stochastic salary follows a stochastic differential equation, whose instantaneous volatility changes with the risky asset price all the time. The HJB equation associated with the optimal investment problem is established, and the explicit solution of the corresponding optimization problem for the CARA utility function is obtained by applying power transform and variable change technique. Finally, we present a numerical analysis.

Similarity measure design for high dimensional data

Information analysis of high dimensional data was carried out through similarity measure application. High dimensional data were considered as the a typical structure. Additionally, overlapped and non-overlapped data were introduced, and similarity measure analysis was also illustrated and compared with conventional similarity measure. As a result, overlapped data comparison was possible to present similarity with conventional similarity measure. Non-overlapped data similarity analysis provided the clue to solve the similarity of high dimensional data. Considering high dimensional data analysis was designed with consideration of neighborhoods information. Conservative and strict solutions were proposed. Proposed similarity measure was applied to express financial fraud among multi dimensional datasets. In illustrative example, financial fraud similarity with respect to age, gender, qualification and job was presented. And with the proposed similarity measure, high dimensional personal data were calculated to evaluate how similar to the financial fraud. Calculation results show that the actual fraud has rather high similarity measure compared to the average, from minimal 0.0609 to maximal 0.1667.

Modeling and applying credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy reciprocal preference relations in group decision making

Intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations are powerful techniques used to express uncertain preference information. However, simultaneously providing the exact priority and non-priority intensities could be difficult in real applications. A credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy number (CIIFN) is introduced and a credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy reciprocal preference relation (CIIFRPR) is developed to solve this issue. Unlike intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations, the new preference relations use the CIIFNs to express the preference information such that the decision makers simply provide the priority intensity with interval-valued numbers and calculate the non-preference intensity with the transformed method, which avoids a complex evaluation of non-priority information. Furthermore, some basic operations and comparison laws are investigated, based on which three credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy aggregation operators are proposed. Two models are presented to manage the group decision-making. Finally, a practical case is used to demonstrate the feasibility and reasonability of the proposed preference relations and aggregation operators. © 2017 Beijing Institute of Aerospace Information.

Time–frequency co-movement and risk connectedness among cryptocurrencies:new evidence from the higher-order moments before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Analyzing comovements and connectedness is critical for providing significant implications for crypto-portfolio risk management.However,most existing research focuses on the lower-order moment nexus(i.e.the return and volatility interactions).For the first time,this study investigates the higher-order moment comovements and risk connectedness among cryptocurrencies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in both the time and frequency domains.We combine the realized moment measures and wavelet coherence,and the newly proposed time-varying parameter vector autoregression-based frequency connectedness approach(Chatziantoniou et al.in Integration and risk transmission in the market for crude oil a time-varying parameter frequency connectedness approach.Technical report,University of Pretoria,Department of Economics,2021)using intraday high-frequency data.The empirical results demonstrate that the comovement of realized volatility between BTC and other cryp-tocurrencies is stronger than that of the realized skewness,realized kurtosis,and signed jump variation.The comovements among cryptocurrencies are both time-dependent and frequency-dependent.Besides the volatility spillovers,the risk spillovers of high-order moments and jumps are also significant,although their magnitudes vary with moments,making them moment-dependent as well and are lower than volatility connectedness.Frequency connectedness demonstrates that the risk connectedness is mainly transmitted in the short term(1–7 days).Furthermore,the total dynamic connectedness of all realized moments is time-varying and has been significantly affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.Several practical implications are drawn for crypto investors,portfolio managers,regulators,and policymakers in optimizing their investment and risk management tactics.

Parameterless Pruning Algorithms for Similarity-Weight Network and Its Application in Extracting the Backbone of Global Value Chain

Purpose:With the availability and utilization of Inter-Country Input-Output(ICIO)tables,it is possible to construct quantitative indices to assess its impact on the Global Value Chain(GVC).For the sake of visualization,ICIO networks with tremendous low-weight edges are too dense to show the substantial structure.These redundant edges,inevitably make the network data full of noise and eventually exert negative effects on Social Network Analysis(SNA).In this case,we need a method to filter such edges and obtain a sparser network with only the meaningful connections.Design/methodology/approach:In this paper,we propose two parameterless pruning algorithms from the global and local perspectives respectively,then the performance of them is examined using the ICIO table from different databases.Findings:The Searching Paths(SP)method extracts the strongest association paths from the global perspective,while Filtering Edges(FE)method captures the key links according to the local weight ratio.The results show that the FE method can basically include the SP method and become the best solution for the ICIO networks.Research limitations:There are still two limitations in this research.One is that the computational complexity may increase rapidly while processing the large-scale networks,so the proposed method should be further improved.The other is that much more empirical networks should be introduced to testify the scientificity and practicability of our methodology.Practical implications:The network pruning methods we proposed will promote the analysis of the ICIO network,in terms of community detection,link prediction,and spatial econometrics,etc.Also,they can be applied to many other complex networks with similar characteristics.Originality/value:This paper improves the existing research from two aspects,namely,considering the heterogeneity of weights and avoiding the interference of parameters.Therefore,it provides a new idea for the research of network backbone extraction.

High-Frequency Trading:Deception and Consequences

This commentary is based on the work of Cooper,Davis,and Van Vliet(2016)and the commentary focuses on what problem high-frequency trading poses.It lists key literature on high-frequency trading that is missing and points out that the poker analogy to defend deception in financial markets is weak and misleading.The article elaborates on the negative impact created by spoofing and quote stuffing,the two typical deceptive practices used by high-frequency traders.The recent regulations regarding high-frequency trading,in response to the“Flash Crash”of 2010,are preventive,computerized and more effective.They reflect ethical requirements to maintain fair and stable financial markets.

Comprehensive characterization of CRC with germline mutations reveals a distinct somatic mutational landscape and elevated cancer risk in the Chinese population

Objective:Hereditary colorectal cancer(CRC)accounts for approximately 5%–10%of all CRC cases.The full profile of CRC-related germline mutations and the corresponding somatic mutational profile have not been fully determined in the Chinese population.Methods:We performed the first population study investigating the germline mutation status in more than 1,000(n=1,923)Chinese patients with CRC and examined their relationship with the somatic mutational landscape.Germline alterations were examined with a 58-gene next-generation sequencing panel,and somatic alterations were examined with a 605-gene panel.Results:A total of 92 pathogenic(P)mutations were identified in 85 patients,and 81 likely pathogenic(LP)germline mutations were identified in 62 patients,accounting for 7.6%(147/1,923)of all patients.MSH2 and APC was the most mutated gene in the Lynch syndrome and non-Lynch syndrome groups,respectively.Patients with P/LP mutations had a significantly higher ratio of microsatellite instability,highly deficient mismatch repair,family history of CRC,and lower age.The somatic mutational landscape revealed a significantly higher mutational frequency in the P group and a trend toward higher copy number variations in the non-P group.The Lynch syndrome group had a significantly higher mutational frequency and tumor mutational burden than the nonLynch syndrome group.Clustering analysis revealed that the Notch signaling pathway was uniquely clustered in the Lynch syndrome group,and the MAPK and cAMP signaling pathways were uniquely clustered in the non-Lynch syndrome group.Population risk analysis indicated that the overall odds ratio was 11.13(95%CI:8.289–15.44)for the P group and 20.68(95%CI:12.89–33.18)for the LP group.Conclusions:Distinct features were revealed in Chinese patients with CRC with germline mutations.The Notch signaling pathway was uniquely clustered in the Lynch syndrome group,and the MAPK and cAMP signaling pathways were uniquely clustered in the non-Lynch syndrome group.Patients with P/LP germline mutations exhibited higher CRC risk.

Labor Market Aspects of the ＂New Rurality＂： Employment, Commuting and Entrepreneurship in Rural Sweden

Around two thirds of the Swedish rural areas experienced positive net migration during the period 2003-2005. This paper examines the development in the Swedish rural areas from the perspective of the ＂new rurality＂ or the new rural economic order with regard to migratory movements. The paper analyzes determinants of net migration to rural areas in general and to different types of regions, and the impacts of in-migration on rural labor markets, self-employment and other socio-economic conditions. The determinants of the migration pattern were mainly the size of adjacent local and regional centers, income and education levels that all had positive impacts, while commuting distance and unemployment rate had contrary effects. In comparison with the original inhabitants, the newcomers had lower incomes, a lower employment ratio and a lower degree of entrepreneurial activities, but higher education levels. These differences might be explained by the age differences between stayers （older） and in-migrants （younger）. This indicates that the two groups were in different stages of their life cycles. One central conclusion drawn from the paper is that the effect of in-migration on the composition of the rural population is about the same in rural areas all over Sweden.

China-Africa Joint Endeavor on the Digital Silk Road: Opportunities, Challenges and Approaches

The Digital Silk Road1 is a product of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)and the digital economy.It is an inevitable outcome of the globalization of the digital economy,and at the same time it also injects impetus into the BRI. Africa has great potential for development in the digital economy.As the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan(2019-2021)proposes,China and Africa will“share experience in the development of information communication,seize the opportunity presented by the digital economy,and encourage companies to carry out cooperation in ICT infrastructure,the internet and the digital economy.”

Word Segmentation for Chinese Judicial Documents

Word segmentation is an integral step in many knowledge discovery applications. However, existing word segmentation methods have problems when applying to Chinese judicial documents:(1) existing methods rely on large-scale labeled data which is typically unavailable in judicial documents, and (2) judicial document has its own language features and writing formats. In this paper, a word segmentation method is proposed for Chinese judicial documents. The proposed method consists of two steps:(1) automatically generating some labeled data as legal dictionaries, and (2) applying a hybrid multilayer neural networks to do word segmentation incorporating legal dictionaries. Experiments are conducted on a dataset of Chinese judicial documents showing that the proposed model can achieve better results than the existing methods.

Commercial Banks Responses toward Small and Medium Enterprises Survival in the Context of the COVID-19 in Africa

The African government has implemented measures to sustain an investable economic downturn as it navigates the fiscal effect of the viral spread of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).Consequently,commercial banks in Africa have come hand in hand toward support of SMEs activities by increasing their borrowing power and reducing interest rates.Despite all these measures the general performance of small and medium enterprises(SMEs)across Africa as pertains to revenues and profits has gone down.This paper provides a theoretical analysis of the measures undertaken by commercial banks to ensure proper running and continuity of activities in the SMEs sector in Africa.The research is founded on the theories of innovation diffusion and resource-based theory.This study will use a mixed research design,which will include descriptive and explanatory research.The proposed target population will be Africa’s thriving commercial banks.The primary and secondary data will be used from commercial bank reports and the central bureau of statistics reports across Africa.The data will be analyzed using a multiple linear regression model.The finding indicated that commercial banks in Africa have brought in solutions and measures to adapt to the crisis being implicated on the SMEs by the COVID-19 pandemic.Based on the findings of the desktop reviews,the study concludes that commercial banks have a significant influence on SMEs during this period of COVID-19,and with the assistance of the government,they have implemented more policies to support the activities of SMEs.

How to Make Virtual Community More Active and Cohesive:From Brand and Perceived Protection Perspectives

With the increasing popularity of the Internet and mobile Internet, the Virtual Community （VC） is becoming an important medium for person-to-person communication. To realise the potential of the VC, it is neces- sary to cultivate within it good group cohesion and vitality. Using empirical and experimental research methods, this study explores the ef- fect of users＇ trust in the VC Platform （VCP） on group cohesion and vitality and how brand and perceived privacy security can affect us- ers＇ trust in the VC. The research results indi- cate that the brand of the VCP can directly af- fect users＇ trust in the VC, and can also influe- nce it indirectly through users＇ perceived pri- vacy protection and perceived security protec- tion. Further, this study also confu＇ms that the performance of the VC （group cohesion and vitality） is significantly affected by users＇ trust in the VC. The results of this study can provide theoretical guidance for internet companies to maintain and enhance the value of VCs.