Interaction between a parasite and its host could lead to a co-evolutionary arms race. Cuckoo-host system is among the most studied of all brood parasite systems, but the cuckoos of Asia, on the other hand, are much l...Interaction between a parasite and its host could lead to a co-evolutionary arms race. Cuckoo-host system is among the most studied of all brood parasite systems, but the cuckoos of Asia, on the other hand, are much less well known. China has the most abundant cuckoo species in Asia. Many of these co-occur in sympatric areas, posing a potential risk of mis-identification of cuckoo nestlings, especially in Cuculus species. In this study we have provided a practical criterion to identify cuckoo nestlings species in the field and performed molecular phylogeny to confirm our empirical results. These results indicate that two distinct characteristics of cuckoo nestlings, i.e., the gape color pattern and feather traits can be considered as reliable species identification. To our knowledge, this is the first report for species identification of Cuculus nestlings through molecular analysis.展开更多
With the rise of urbanization, change in lifestyles, and food habits, the amount of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) has been rapidly increasing with the composition constantly changing. Landfilling is the common approach ...With the rise of urbanization, change in lifestyles, and food habits, the amount of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) has been rapidly increasing with the composition constantly changing. Landfilling is the common approach for waste management in Kuwait, and around 90% of municipal wastes are disposed in landfill sites. Therefore, this study focused on the integration of different methods for the process of allocating optimum sites for MSW landfills, in four main stages. The first stage focused on utilizing the gap analysis method for the identification of effective criteria for landfill site selection, by comparing the criteria in Kuwait with the World Bank guidelines, US EPA, and Australia EPA, to suggest the best criteria for landfill site selection. These criteria were applied in the second and third stages to determine suitable locations for landfill sites using the Geographical Information System (GIS). In the last stage, the suitable areas were evaluated by studying the socioeconomic aspects such as distance to waste generation center, the proximity of existing roads, and lifespan to select optimum locations for landfilling. The results indicated that only one site with a total area of 12 km2 was considered optimum for MSW landfill sites in Kuwait. Therefore, moderate suitability areas were indicated to support and provide decision makers with more options. The moderately suitable sites are also suitable for landfilling, but they need to be designed carefully in order to avoid negative impacts on the environment and human health. Therefore, we conclude that there is an urgent need to apply the integrated waste management system in Kuwait, as well as to develop a long-term strategic plan.展开更多
The UK is the most important partner of the EU in terms of economic and other fields due to the geographical proximity.It was one of the largest economies in the EU and its per capita income is higher than the EU aver...The UK is the most important partner of the EU in terms of economic and other fields due to the geographical proximity.It was one of the largest economies in the EU and its per capita income is higher than the EU average,so it is a net contributor to the EU.With UKs membership of the EU ended on 31 January 2019,there are concerns that the Brexit may have a significant impact on the EU,resulting in social,economic,political,and institutional changes,etc.in EU.While the impact of Brexit on the UK has always been the subject of considerable scholarly interest in recent years,there is relatively little literature on the impact of Brexit on the EU.This paper focuses on the evaluation of the impact of Brexit on the EU economy and other relevant aspects along three dimensions:GDP,PPP,Quarterly GDP growth.Employing powerful quantitative analysis technology that includes vector autoregression model,multivariate time series model with intervention variables,and autoregression integrated moving average,this paper obtains the important and novel evidence about the potential impact of Brexit on the EU economy,pointing out that Brexit is of far-reaching significance to the EU.This analysis uses several statistical models to screen out several key influencing factors,which can be used to predict the total GDP of EU in the next five years.The results show that EU economy will react negatively to"no-deal"Brexit,and its growth rate of economy will slow down significantly in next 5 years.Finally,we put forward relevant policy suggestions on how to deal with the negative impact of Brexit on EU.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31071938, 31101646)the Key Project of the Chinese Ministry of Education (No. 212136)the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University(NCET-10-0111)
文摘Interaction between a parasite and its host could lead to a co-evolutionary arms race. Cuckoo-host system is among the most studied of all brood parasite systems, but the cuckoos of Asia, on the other hand, are much less well known. China has the most abundant cuckoo species in Asia. Many of these co-occur in sympatric areas, posing a potential risk of mis-identification of cuckoo nestlings, especially in Cuculus species. In this study we have provided a practical criterion to identify cuckoo nestlings species in the field and performed molecular phylogeny to confirm our empirical results. These results indicate that two distinct characteristics of cuckoo nestlings, i.e., the gape color pattern and feather traits can be considered as reliable species identification. To our knowledge, this is the first report for species identification of Cuculus nestlings through molecular analysis.
文摘With the rise of urbanization, change in lifestyles, and food habits, the amount of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) has been rapidly increasing with the composition constantly changing. Landfilling is the common approach for waste management in Kuwait, and around 90% of municipal wastes are disposed in landfill sites. Therefore, this study focused on the integration of different methods for the process of allocating optimum sites for MSW landfills, in four main stages. The first stage focused on utilizing the gap analysis method for the identification of effective criteria for landfill site selection, by comparing the criteria in Kuwait with the World Bank guidelines, US EPA, and Australia EPA, to suggest the best criteria for landfill site selection. These criteria were applied in the second and third stages to determine suitable locations for landfill sites using the Geographical Information System (GIS). In the last stage, the suitable areas were evaluated by studying the socioeconomic aspects such as distance to waste generation center, the proximity of existing roads, and lifespan to select optimum locations for landfilling. The results indicated that only one site with a total area of 12 km2 was considered optimum for MSW landfill sites in Kuwait. Therefore, moderate suitability areas were indicated to support and provide decision makers with more options. The moderately suitable sites are also suitable for landfilling, but they need to be designed carefully in order to avoid negative impacts on the environment and human health. Therefore, we conclude that there is an urgent need to apply the integrated waste management system in Kuwait, as well as to develop a long-term strategic plan.
基金by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.11861042)the China Statistical Research Project(No.2020LZ25).
文摘The UK is the most important partner of the EU in terms of economic and other fields due to the geographical proximity.It was one of the largest economies in the EU and its per capita income is higher than the EU average,so it is a net contributor to the EU.With UKs membership of the EU ended on 31 January 2019,there are concerns that the Brexit may have a significant impact on the EU,resulting in social,economic,political,and institutional changes,etc.in EU.While the impact of Brexit on the UK has always been the subject of considerable scholarly interest in recent years,there is relatively little literature on the impact of Brexit on the EU.This paper focuses on the evaluation of the impact of Brexit on the EU economy and other relevant aspects along three dimensions:GDP,PPP,Quarterly GDP growth.Employing powerful quantitative analysis technology that includes vector autoregression model,multivariate time series model with intervention variables,and autoregression integrated moving average,this paper obtains the important and novel evidence about the potential impact of Brexit on the EU economy,pointing out that Brexit is of far-reaching significance to the EU.This analysis uses several statistical models to screen out several key influencing factors,which can be used to predict the total GDP of EU in the next five years.The results show that EU economy will react negatively to"no-deal"Brexit,and its growth rate of economy will slow down significantly in next 5 years.Finally,we put forward relevant policy suggestions on how to deal with the negative impact of Brexit on EU.
