Exploring the moderating role of financial development in environmental Kuznets curve for South Africa:fresh evidence from the novel dynamic ARDL simulations approach

The extant literature has produced mixed evidence on the relationship between finan-cial development and ecological sustainability.This work addresses this conundrum by investigating financial development’s direct and indirect consequences on ecologi-cal quality utilizing the environmental Kuznets curve(EKC)methodological approach.Our empirical analysis is based on the novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulations approach for South Africa between 1960 and 2020.The results,which used five distinct financial development measures,demonstrate that financial develop-ment boosts ecological integrity and environmental sustainability over the long and short terms.In the instance of South Africa,we additionally confirm the validity of the EKC theory.More importantly,the outcomes of the indirect channels demonstrate that financial development increases energy usage’s role in causing pollution while attenuating the detrimental impacts of economic growth,trade openness,and foreign direct investment on ecological quality.Moreover,the presence of an inadequate financial system is a requirement for the basis of the pollution haven hypothesis(PHH),which we examine using trade openness and foreign direct investment variables.PHH for both of these variables disappears when financial development crosses specified thresholds.Finally,industrial value addition destroys ecological quality while tech-nological innovation enhances it.This research provides some crucial policy recom-mendations and fresh perspectives for South Africa as it develops national initiatives to support ecological sustainability and reach its net zero emissions goal.

TEDA(Tianjin Economic-technological Development Area)——A General Survey, Experience and the Plan for Future Development.

Since its establishment about ten years ago, TEDA has taken advantage of eachopportune time created by China’s policy of opening wider and wider to the outsideworld and the rapid economic growth to deepen its reform and extend its exploitation,and thus has maintained a favorable momentum and an extraordinary high speed foreconomic development. With the total economic output of the whole area raised to

Recent advances and future directions for the pharmacogenetic basis of anti-VEGF treatment response in neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Age related macular degeneration （AMD） is a complex progres- sive neurodegenerative disease causing blindness in 30-35 million people worldwide. It affects the macula region of the retina leading to severe vision loss and legal blindness in individuals 〉 50 years of age （Wong et al., 2014）. The precise aetiology of AMD is unknown but smoking, age and genetic factors are major risk factors for AMD predisposition （Ding et al., 2009）. The genetic basis of AMD is well described with a recent study from the International AMD gene consortium （IAMDGC） reporting 52 genetic variants across 34 loci associated with the risk of AMD pathogenesis and explaining more than 50% of the genetic heritabilitv of the disease （Fritsche et al., 2016）.

Future directions for using estrogen receptor agonists in the treatment of acute and chronic spinal cord injury

All synthetic and natural estrogen receptor agonists, in- cluding the most potent physiological molecule estrogen or estradiol （E2）, work typically via activation of nuclear estrogen receptor alpha （ERα） and estrogen receptor beta （ERβ）. Both ERα and ERβ modulate the expression of a variety of genes in the cells. Neurons and glial cells express ERa and ERβ. Many studies so far from our and other laboratories have firmly established the mode of actions that ERα and ERβ agonists are very promising anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective agents in the treatment of neurodegenera- rive diseases and injuries including spinal cord injury （SCI） （Chakrabarti et al., 2014a）.

20 Years of the SCO:Development,Experience and Future Direction

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO)has withstood storms to create a cooperative platform in Central Asia that conforms to the trend of the times,meets regional needs,and serves its member states’interests.SCO’s commitment to innovative thinking,security cooperation and regional coordination has contributed to regional stability and development and to gaining experience for establishing regional and global order.China-Russia cooperation,efforts by the“Shanghai Five,”relations among member states,and external pressure have been the main driving forces supporting a huge increase in trade in the past 20 years.For regional development and stability and a greater role in global governance,the SCO should continue taking the long-term perspective in planning and policy.

Buiding for the Future The Development of Chinese Art Museums

A buiding can have many functions but it is always symbolic of the era and the specific culture that it has come from; it cannot help but be so as it is a response to the needs and desires of a particular society. A building designated as an art museum must symbolize more however.

Charting the Way Forward China’s lianghui mapped out a promising blueprint for the country’s future development

The lianghui, or the annual Two Sessions of the National People＇s Congress （NPC） and the Chinese People＇s Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC） National Committee, are always a great political event in China, but more so this year, with groundbreaking outcomes.

Building a Community with a Shared Future for Human Beings: New Opportunity for South-South Human Rights Development Overview of the First South-South Human Rights Forum

From December 7 to December 8, 2017, the State Council Information Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly organized the first South-South Human Rights Forum in Beijing. With the topic of "Building a Community with a Shared Future for Human Beings: New Opportunity for South-South Human Rights Development," participants conducted in-depth discussions on topics including "global human rights governance", "inclusive development and South-South human rights cooperation", "China and the SouthSouth cooperation", "right to education for the countries of the Global South" and "poverty reduction, right to food and right to health", which achieved great consensuses and yielded results. This Forum was the first time that countries of the Global South have jointly discussed human rights issues.

Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind and Promoting the Development of Global Human Rights Governance

In January this year,President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech entitled"Work Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind at the United Nations Office at Geneva,in which he systematically elaborated on the major concept of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind,pointing out the direction for reforming and improving global governance and providing China’s proposition

Grouting theories and technologies for the reinforcement of fractured rocks surrounding deep roadways

Grouting is an effective method to improve the integrity and stability of fractured rocks that surround deep roadways.After years of research and practice,various theories and a complete set of grouting technologies for deep roadways with fractured rocks have been developed and are widely applied in Chinese coal mining production.This paper systematically summarizes and analyzes the research results concerning the theory,design,materials,processes,and equipment for the grouting and reinforcement of fractured rocks surrounding deep roadways.Specifically,in terms of grouting methods,pregrouting,groutingwhile-excavation,and postgrouting methods are explored;in terms of grouting theory,backfill grouting,compaction grouting,infiltration grouting,and fracture grouting theories are studied.In addition,this paper also studies grouting borehole arrangement,water-cement ratio,grouting pressure,grouting volume,grout diffusion radius,and other grouting parameters and their determination methods.On this basis,this paper explores the physical and mechanical properties of organic and organic-inorganic composite grouting materials,and assess grouting reinforcement quality testing methods and instruments.Taken as the field cases,the application of pregrouting in front of heading faces,groutingwhile-excavation,and postgrouting in the Kouzidong coal mine are then introduced,and the effects of the grouting reinforcements are evaluated.This paper proposes a development direction for grouting technology based on problems existing in the grouting reinforcement of fractured rocks surrounding deep roadways.

The Urban Singularity-Envisioning the Future of Cities

This paper is a hypothetical exploration of the connections between teleological evolution,the Omega Singularity,and the future of cities,weaving together insights from a diverse array of disciplines.Our investigation delves into the possibility that cities are evolving towards a Singularity,a state characterized by infinite knowledge,intelligence,and adaptability,which would bring about a radical transformation of urban environments and their underlying dynamics in the 21st century and beyond.At the heart of this exploration lies the role of language and time as crucial dimensions of the Urban Singularity.Moreover,we examine how linguistic developments and cross-cultural exchanges can foster more inclusive,adaptable,and resilient urban environments,while also highlighting the need for advanced technologies and communication modalities that can support the dynamic needs of future cities.Furthermore,the paper investigates the profound implications and transformative potential of merging human consciousness with the urban Singularity.By examining the interplay between these concepts,we seek for a deeper understanding of the potential trajectories and implications of these concepts for the transformation of human society and our relationship with the built environment.

Current approaches and future directions in the management of pterygium

Pterygium,a common ocular surface disorder,has a complex pathophysiology that may mimic tumorigenesis.There is altered expression of cell cycle/proliferation-related factors in pterygium tissues.Therefore,similar to cancer treatments,the management of pterygium ought to be multifactorial based on the patient’s condition.Current therapeutic methods for pterygium are focused on surgical resection in conjunction with antimetabolite use,in addition tissue graft is usually performed in the context of the avoidance of bare sclera.However,future directions in the management of pterygia will likely focus on genetic approaches.This perspective views the pathogenesis of pterygium,its existing therapies as well as current and future challenges in its treatment.

Looking to the future:Innovation-driven green development

At the beginning of 2017,on behalf of the Editorial Board of Green Energy&Environment(GEE),we wish all of our readers,authors and reviewers a very happy and successful2017.Looking back to 2016,GEE has received many submissions from many countries all over the world since it was launched in April 2016.In the former three issues published,we remain committed to delivering those articles which should be

Distribution characteristics, exploration and development, geological theories research progress and exploration directions of shale gas in China

The shale gas resources in China have great potential and the geological resources of shale gas is over 100×10^(12)m^(3),which includes about 20×10^(12)m^(3) of recoverable resources.Organic-rich shales can be divided into three types according to their sedimentary environments,namely marine,marine-continental transitional,and continental shales,which are distributed in 13 stratigraphic systems from the Mesoproterozoic to the Cenozoic.The Sichuan Basin and its surrounding areas have the highest geological resources of shale gas,and the commercial development of shale gas has been achieved in the Upper Ordovician Wufeng Formation-Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in these areas,with a shale gas production of up to 20×10^(9)m^(3) in 2020.China has seen rapid shale gas exploration and development over the last five years,successively achieving breakthroughs and important findings in many areas and strata.The details are as follows.(1)Large-scale development of middle-shallow shale gas(burial depth:less than 3500 m)has been realized,with the productivity having rapidly increased;(2)breakthroughs have been constantly made in the development of deep shale gas(burial depth:3500-4500 m),and the ultradeep shale gas(burial depth:greater than 4500 m)is under testing;(3)breakthroughs have been made in the development of normal-pressure shale gas,and the assessment of the shale gas in complex tectonic areas is being accelerated;(4)shale gas has been frequently discovered in new areas and new strata,exhibiting a great prospect.Based on the exploration and development practice,three aspects of consensus have been gradually reached on the research progress in the geological theories of shale gas achieved in China.(1)in terms of deep-water fine-grained sediments,organic-rich shales are the base for the formation of shale gas;(2)in terms of high-quality reservoirs,the development of micro-nano organic matter-hosted pores serves as the core of shale gas accumulation;(3)in terms of preservation conditions,weak structural transformation,a moderate degree of thermal evolution,and a high pressure coefficient are the key to shale gas enrichment.As a type of important low-carbon fossil energy,shale gas will play an increasingly important role in achieving the strategic goals of peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality.Based on the in-depth study of shale gas geological conditions and current exploration progress,three important directions for shale gas exploration in China in the next five years are put forward.

Energy Theft Detection in Smart Grids:Taxonomy,Comparative Analysis,Challenges,and Future Research Directions

Electricity theft is one of the major issues in developing countries which is affecting their economy badly.Especially with the introduction of emerging technologies,this issue became more complicated.Though many new energy theft detection(ETD)techniques have been proposed by utilising different data mining(DM)techniques,state&network(S&N)based techniques,and game theory(GT)techniques.Here,a detailed survey is presented where many state-of-the-art ETD techniques are studied and analysed for their strengths and limitations.Three levels of taxonomy are presented to classify state-of-the-art ETD techniques.Different types and ways of energy theft and their consequences are studied and summarised and different parameters to benchmark the performance of proposed techniques are extracted from literature.The challenges of different ETD techniques and their mitigation are suggested for future work.It is observed that the literature on ETD lacks knowledge management techniques that can be more effective,not only for ETD but also for theft tracking.This can help in the prevention of energy theft,in the future,as well as for ETD.

Development of the theory and technology for low permeability reservoirs in China

The development theories of low-permeability oil and gas reservoirs are refined, the key development technologies are summarized, and the prospect and technical direction of sustainable development are discussed based on the understanding and research on developed low-permeability oil and gas resources in China. The main achievements include:(1) the theories of low-permeability reservoir seepage, dual-medium seepage, relative homogeneity, etc.(2) the well location optimization technology combining favorable area of reservoir with gas-bearing prediction and combining pre-stack with post-stack;(3) oriented perforating multi-fracture, multistage sand adding, multistage temporary plugging, vertical well multilayer, horizontal and other fracturing techniques to improve productivity of single well;(4) the technology of increasing injection and keeping pressure, such as overall decreasing pressure, local pressurization, shaped charge stamping and plugging removal, fine separate injection, mild advanced water injection and so on;(5) enhanced recovery technology of optimization of injection-production well network in horizontal wells. To continue to develop low-permeability reserves economically and effectively, there are three aspects of work to be done well:(1) depending on technical improvement, continue to innovate new technologies and methods, establish a new mode of low quality reservoir development economically, determine the main technical boundaries and form replacement technology reserves of advanced development;(2) adhering to the management system of low cost technology & low cost, set up a complete set of low-cost dual integration innovation system through continuous innovation in technology and management;(3) striving for national preferential policies.

Influence of foreign direct investment from China on achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in African countries

The lack of funding is one of the most important challenges in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)in African countries.Can foreign direct investment(FDI)from China as an important source of external financing help African countries achieve their SDGs?This study used the panel data random effects model to analyze the influence of China’s direct investment on SDG scores.Then,the study conducted the ordered probit model to examine the influence of FDI from China on the trend of achieving each SDG in Africa,with the SDGs being grouped into social,economic,and environmental dimensions.Results showed that China’s direct investment contributed to the achievement of SDGs in Africa.FDI from China positively influenced the SDG score in general and some of the 17 SDG scores including SDG 7(Affordable and Clean Energy),SDG 8(Decent Work and Economic Growth),SDG 9(Industry,Innovation,and Infrastructure),SDG 12(Responsible Consumption and Production),SDG 13(Climate Action),and SDG 15(Life on Land).The relationship between FDI from China and the trends for SDG 7,8,9,11(Sustainable Cities and Communities),and 14(Life below Water)was significantly positive.However,the SDG scores above belonged to the economic and environmental dimensions,whereas FDI from China had no significant influence on the social-dimension SDG scores and trends.To further expand the scale of China’s direct investment,more investment scopes,particularly those in the social dimension,should be developed.Moreover,China-Africa cooperation should be deepened to create a good investment environment for the achievement of African countries’SDGs and to facilitate China’s implementation of promoting the development of developing countries as mentioned in the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development and building the China-Africa community with a shared future.

The NCU Lu-Lin Observatory and its Future Direction

The NCU (National Central University) Lu Lin Observatory (Fig. 1) is located at Mt. Front Lu Lin, 120°52′25″E and 23°28′07″N, a 2862 m peak in the Yu Shan National Park. The construction of Lu Lin Observatory was finished on January 14, 1999. The initial study of Lu Lin site was started since late 1989. Later on, a three year project was founded by the National Science Council (NSC) which supported the development of a modern seeing monitor for this site survey study from 1990 through 1993. The average seeing of Lu Lin site is about 1.39 arc second with average 200 clear nights annually. The sky background of this site is 20.72 mag/arcsec 2 in V band and 21.22 mag/arcsec 2 in B band. The Lu Lin observatory is developed for both research and education activity. A homemade 76 cm Super Light Telescope (SLT) and three TAOS’s 50 cm robotic telescopes will be the two major research facilities. The SLT is expected to be operated in the fall of 1999. We are proposing a pilot program to perform SLT observations of time varying astrophysical objects exploiting the unique geophysical location (e. g. time and longitudinal coverage) of Taiwan at the Western Pacific Rim in such topics of emerging interest. The TAOS’s telescopes will be installed in the late 1999 for the survey work of Kuiper Belt Objects. A wireless T1 Network system will also be build up for future remote observation.

Main Practices and Future Development of the Green Food Cane Sugar Industry in Guangxi

The present situation of sugarcane production in Guangxi was introduced.The main practices of Guangxi green food cane sugar industry development were overviewed in terms of the green production for improving quality of sugarcane in Guangxi,green mechanism and joint development,block management for ensuring quality,green recycling and turning waste into treasure,building double-high bases for improving quality and increasing quantity,and sustainable development and thoroughly implementation by taking up residence.Prospects for the future development of the green food cane sugar industry in Guangxi were put forward.

Keep One Step Ahead and Face the Future——Chen Jie,Vice President of ZTE Corporation,Talks About ZTE's NGN Development Strategy

Editor’s Note:In the recent two yearssince ZTE’s NGN prod-uct series were put intomarket,ZTE has maderemarkable achieve-ments in the industry. Al-though a leading vendorin China, ZTE has beencontinuously doing busi- ness in a prudent and practical way,which has been recognized by govern-ment authorities, carriers and customers.In order to learn more about ZTE’s NGNdevelopment strategy,we interviewedChen Jie, ZTE’s vice president and gen-eral manager of Network Division, aboutZTE’s NGN development strategy, R&Dadvantages and progress.