The New Trend of EU Economic Protectionism and Its Prospects for Development

There is a deep historical foundation of economic protectionism in Europe, which runs through its capitalist development and regional integration process. Over the past two years, the EU's economic protectionism has risen again. Both its official statements and policies show some new trends and characteristics. The basic cause of these latest trends is the relative decline in the overall strength of the EU, especially in regard to the ongoing impact of the financial and debt crisis on its economic, political and social fields. In general, the EU is likely to become more radical in its foreign economic relations, but its protectionism will not solve the fundamental problems it faces. China and Europe still need to further strengthen risk control and management in their economic and trade relations.

Mercantilist Origin of United States’ Trade Protectionism

During its rise as a world power, the United States(U.S.) adopted a traditional form of mercantilism, and most US politicians followed a protectionist approach. From the end of the Civil War to the eve of World War I, the United States blazed a new trail of industrial development and implemented protective policies such as high tariffs. This historical tradition has had a profound influence on some current US politicians. After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the United States developed a new form of mercantilism, as manifested in the emergence of nontariff barriers instead of tariff barriers to restrict imports and protect domestic industries and employment. Although export regulations have avoided affecting the technology industry, they have led to hefty trade deficits for the United States. National interests have prevailed in U.S. decision-making and have influenced its choices to accede to or walk away from international organizations or treaties. The dollar's hegemony has played a pivotal role in U.S. economic policymaking. These factors have led to the twin deficits in the U.S. economy, i.e. a trade deficit and a fiscal deficit. The real intention of the United States in waging a trade war against China is to maintain and even strengthen the dollar's hegemony and the U.S.' international predominance.

Samuelson’s Concern, Kindleberger Trap and U.S. Trade Protectionism

"Samuelson's Concern" and "Kindleberger Trap" are cited as justifications for trade protectionism under the Trump administration. After reviewing Samuelson's and Kindleberger's trade theories, this paper finds that both Samuelson and Kindleberger are actually proponents of free trade, and that their common concern is falling US competitiveness due to its economic model, domestic institutional rules, and unilateralism. Both the "Samuelson's Concern" and "Kindleberger Trap" are distortions of Samuelson's and Kindleberger's original theories and the arguments' defense of protectionism cannot overcome the challenges confronting the U.S. and will destabilize international economic order.

Trade Protectionism is Short-sighted

Both COFCO and SINOCHEM participate in trading business with Australian enterprises,such as the import of barley,wheat,diary and meat products,or chemical products and coal.Free trade has always been the foundation of Sino-Australia relations.In the B20 trade and investment working group discussion,I want to emphasize the

Protectionism on the Surge

With the textile export to EU growing at a pace faster than anticipated, the joint efforts to slow down Chinese shipment to this market in a predetermined arrangement known as "bilateral check" seem to be abortive, more and more producers there seem to grow out of their patience with EU’s past deal with China. A new wave of trade protectionism is coming on the surge…

The future of artificial hibernation medicine:protection of nerves and organs after spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury is a serious disease of the central nervous system involving irreversible nerve injury and various organ system injuries.At present,no effective clinical treatment exists.As one of the artificial hibernation techniques,mild hypothermia has preliminarily confirmed its clinical effect on spinal cord injury.However,its technical defects and barriers,along with serious clinical side effects,restrict its clinical application for spinal cord injury.Artificial hibernation is a futureoriented disruptive technology for human life support.It involves endogenous hibernation inducers and hibernation-related central neuromodulation that activate particular neurons,reduce the central constant temperature setting point,disrupt the normal constant body temperature,make the body adapt"to the external cold environment,and reduce the physiological resistance to cold stimulation.Thus,studying the artificial hibernation mechanism may help develop new treatment strategies more suitable for clinical use than the cooling method of mild hypothermia technology.This review introduces artificial hibernation technologies,including mild hypothermia technology,hibernation inducers,and hibernation-related central neuromodulation technology.It summarizes the relevant research on hypothermia and hibernation for organ and nerve protection.These studies show that artificial hibernation technologies have therapeutic significance on nerve injury after spinal co rd injury through inflammatory inhibition,immunosuppression,oxidative defense,and possible central protection.It also promotes the repair and protection of res pirato ry and digestive,cardiovascular,locomoto r,urinary,and endocrine systems.This review provides new insights for the clinical treatment of nerve and multiple organ protection after spinal cord injury thanks to artificial hibernation.At present,artificial hibernation technology is not mature,and research fa ces various challenges.Neve rtheless,the effort is wo rthwhile for the future development of medicine.

Network pharmacology and subsequent experimental validation reveal the synergistic myocardial protection mechanism of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge.and Carthamus tinctorius L.

Objective:To reveal the molecular mechanism underlying the compatibility of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge(S.miltiorrhiza,Dan Shen)and C.tinctorius L.(C.tinctorius,Hong Hua)as an herb pair through network pharmacology and subsequent experimental validation.Methods:Network pharmacology was applied to construct an active ingredient-efficacy target-disease protein network to reveal the unique regulation pattern of s.miltiorrhiza and C.tinctorius as herb pair.Molecular docking was used to verify the binding of the components of these herbs and their potential targets.An H9c2 glucose hypoxia model was used to evaluate the efficacy of the components and their synergistic effects,which were evaluated using the combination index.Western blot was performed to detect the protein expression of these targets.Results:Network pharmacology analysis revealed 5 pathways and 8 core targets of s.miltiorrhiza and C.tinctorius in myocardial protection.Five of the core targets were enriched in the hypoxia-inducible factor-1(HIF-1)signaling pathway.S.miltiorrhiza-C.tinctorius achieved vascular tone mainly by regulating the target genes of the HIF-1 pathway.As an upstream gene of the HIF-1 pathway,STAT3 can be activated by the active ingredients cryptotanshinone(Ctan),salvianolic acid B(Sal.B),and myricetin(Myric).Cell experiments revealed that Myric,Sal.B,and Ctan also exhibited synergistic myocardial protective activity.Molecular docking verified the strong binding of Myric,Sal.B,and Ctan to STAT3.Western blot further showed that the active ingredients synergistically upregulated the protein expressionof STAT3.Conclusion:The pharmacodynamic transmission analysis revealed that the active ingredients of S.miltiorrhiza and C.tinctorius can synergistically resist ischemia through various targets and pathways.This study provides a methodological reference for interpreting traditional Chinese medicine compatibility.

Self-actuating protection mechanisms for safer lithium-ion batteries

Safety issue is still a problem nowadays for the large-scale application of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)in electric vehicles and energy storage stations.The unsafe behaviors of LIBs arise from the thermal run-away,which is intrinsically triggered by the overcharging and overheating.To improve the safety of LIBs,various protection strategies based on self-actuating reaction control mechanisms(SRCMs)have been proposed,including redox shuttle,polymerizable monomer additive,potential-sensitive separator,thermal shutdown separator,positive-temperature-coefficient electrode,thermally polymerizable addi-tive,and reversible thermal phase transition electrolyte.As build-in protection mechanisms,these meth-ods can sensitively detect either the temperature change inside battery or the potential change of the electrode,and spontaneously shut down the electrode reaction at risky conditions,thus preventing the battery from going into thermal runaway.Given their advantages in enhancing the intrinsic safety of LIBs,this paper overviews the research progresses of SRCMs after a brief introduction of thermal runaway mechanism and limitations of conventional thermal runaway mitigating measures.More importantly,the current states and issues,key challenges,and future developing trends of SRCTs are also discussed and outlined from the viewpoint of practical application,aiming at providing insights and guidance for developing more effective SRCMs for LIBs.

Ballistic design and testing of a composite armour reinforced by CNTs suitable for armoured vehicles

This paper is investigating the use of composite armour reinforced by nanomaterials, for the protection of light armoured(LAV) and medium armoured military vehicles(MAV), and the interaction between the composite materials and high-performance ballistic projectiles. Four armour materials, consisted of front hybrid fibre reinforced polymer cover layer, ceramic strike-face, fibre reinforced polymer intermediate layer and the metal matrix composite reinforced backplate, were manufactured and assembled by adhesive technology. The proposed laminated protection system is suitable for armoured ground vehicles;however, it could be used as armour on ground, air and naval platforms. The design of the protection system, including material selection and thickness, was elaborated depending on the performance requirements of Level 4 + STANAG 4569 military standard(projectile 14.5 mm × 114 mm API B32) and especially on a design philosophy which is analysed with the specifications. The backplate of this new composite is a hybrid material of Metal Matrix Composite(MMC) reinforced with carbon nanotubes(CNTs), manufactured with the use of powder metallurgy technique. The composite backplate material was morphologically, mechanically and chemically analysed. Results show that all plates are presenting high mechanical properties and ballistic characteristics, compared to commonly used armour plates. Real military ballistic tests according to AEP-STANAG 4569 were carried out for the total composite armour systems. After the ballistic tests, AA2024-CNT3 showed the best protection results, compared with the other plates(AA2024-CNT1 and AA2024-CNT2), with the projectile being unable to fully penetrate the composite plate.

A novel live attenuated vaccine candidate protects chickens against subtype B avian metapneumovirus

Avian metapneumovirus(aMPV) is a highly contagious pathogen that causes acute upper respiratory tract diseases in chickens and turkeys, resulting in serious economic losses. Subtype B aMPV has recently become the dominant epidemic strain in China. We developed an attenuated aMPV subtype B strain by serial passaging in Vero cells and evaluated its safety and efficacy as a vaccine candidate. The safety test showed that after the 30th passage, the LN16-A strain was fully attenuated, as clinical signs of infection and histological lesions were absent after inoculation.The LN16-A strain did not revert to a virulent strain after five serial passages in chickens. The genomic sequence of LN16-A differed from that of the parent wild-type LN16(wtLN16) strain and had nine amino acid mutations. In chickens, a single immunization with LN16-A induced robust humoral and cellular immune responses, including the abundant production of neutralizing antibodies, CD4^(+) T lymphocytes, and the Th1(IFN-γ) and Th2(IL-4 and IL-6)cytokines. We also confirmed that LN16-A provided 100% protection against subtype B aMPV and significantly reduced viral shedding and turbinate inflammation. Our findings suggest that the LN16-A strain is a promising live attenuated vaccine candidate that can prevent infection with subtype B aMPV.

从H1N1血凝素序列提取的沙门氏菌传递的COBRA-HA1抗原对甲型流感亚型产生广谱保护作用

A universal vaccine is in high demand to address the uncertainties of antigenic drift and the reduced effectiveness of current influenza vaccines.In this study,a strategy called computationally optimized broadly reactive antigen(COBRA)was used to generate a consensus sequence of the hemagglutinin globular head portion(HA1)of influenza virus samples collected from 1918 to 2021 to trace evolutionary changes and incorporate them into the designed constructs.Constructs carrying different HA1regions were delivered into eukaryotic cells by Salmonella-mediated bactofection using a Semliki Forest virus RNA-dependent RNApolymerase(RdRp)-based eukaryotic expression system,pJHL204.Recombinant protein expression was confirmed by Western blot and immunofluorescence assays.Mice immunized with the designed constructs produced a humoral response,with a significant increase in immunoglobulin G(IgG)levels,and a cell-mediated immune response,including a 1.5-fold increase in CD4^(+) and CD8^(+)T cells.Specifically,constructs #1 and #5 increased the production of interferon-γ(IFN-γ)producing CD4^(+)and CD8^(+)T cells,skewing the response toward the T helper type 1 cell(Th1)pathway.Additionally,interleukin-4(IL-4)-producing T cells were upregulated 4-fold.Protective efficacy was demonstrated,with up to 4-fold higher production of neutralizing antibodies and a hemagglutination inhibition titer>40 against the selected viral strains.The designed constructs conferred a broadly protective immune response,resulting in a notable reduction in viral titer and minimal inflammation in the lungs of mice challenged with the influenza A/PR8/34,A/Brisbane/59/2007,A/California/07/2009,KBPV VR-92,and NCCP 43021 strains.This discovery revolutionizes influenza vaccine design and delivery;Salmonella-mediated COBRA-HA1 is a highly effective in vivo antigen presentation strategy.This approach can effectively combat seasonal H1N1 influenza strains and potential pandemic outbreaks.

Experimental and numerical study on protective effect of RC blast wall against air shock wave

Prototype experiments were carried out on the explosion-proof performance of the RC blast wall.The mass of TNT detonated in the experiments is 5 kg and 20 kg respectively.The shock wave overpressure was tested in different regions.The above experiments were numerically simulated,and the simulated shock wave overpressure waveforms were compared with that tested and given by CONWEP program.The results show that the numerically simulated waveform is slightly different from the test waveform,but similar to CONWEP waveform.Through dimensional analysis and numerical simulation under different working conditions,the equation for the attenuation rate of the diffraction overpressure behind the blast wall was obtained.According to the corresponding standards,the degree of casualties and the damage degree of the brick concrete building at a certain distance behind the wall can be determined when parameters are set.The above results can provide a reference for the design and construction of the reinforced concrete blast wall.

Authenticated Digital Currency Redaction with Stronger Privacy and Usability

With the promotion of digital currency,how to effectively solve the authenticity,privacy and usability of digital currency issuance has been a key problem.Redactable signature scheme(RSS)can provide the verification of the integrity and source of the generated sub-documents and solve the privacy problem in digital currency by removing blocks from the signed documents.Unfortunately,it has not realized the consolidation of signed documents,which can not solve the problem of merging two digital currencies.Now,we introduce the concept of weight based on the threshold secret sharing scheme(TSSS)and present a redactable signature scheme with merge algorithm(RSS-MA)using the quasi-commutative accumulator.Our scheme can reduce the communication overhead by utilizing the merge algorithm when transmitting multiple digital currency signatures.Furthermore,this can effectively hide the scale of users’private monetary assets and the number of transactions between users.While meeting the three properties of digital currency issuance,in order to ensure the availability of digital currency after redacting,editors shall not remove the relevant identification information block form digital currency.Finally,our security proof and the analysis of efficiency show that RSS-MA greatly improves the communication and computation efficiency when transmitting multiple signatures.

Formation and ecological response of sand patches in the protection system of Shapotou section of the Baotou-Lanzhou railway,China

The development of bare patches typically signifies a process of ecosystem degradation.Within the protection system of Shapotou section of the Baotou-Lanzhou railway,the extensive emergence of bare sand patches poses a threat to both stability and sustainability.However,there is limited knowledge regarding the morphology,dynamic changes,and ecological responses associated with these sand patches.Therefore,we analyzed the formation and development process of sand patches within the protection system and its effects on herbaceous vegetation growth and soil nutrients through field observation,survey,and indoor analysis methods.The results showed that sand patch development can be divided into three stages,i.e.,formation,expansion,and stabilization,which correspond to the initial,actively developing,and semi-fixed sand patches,respectively.The average dimensions of all sand patch erosional areas were found to be 7.72 m in length,3.91 m in width,and 0.32 m in depth.The actively developing sand patches were the largest,and the initial sand patches were the smallest.Throughout the stage of formation and expansion,the herbaceous community composition changed,and the plant density decreased by more than 50.95%.Moreover,the coverage and height of herbaceous plants decreased in the erosional area and slightly increased in the depositional lobe;and the fine particles and nutrients of soils in the erosional area and depositional lobe showed a decreasing trend.In the stabilization phases of sand patches,the area from the inlet to the bottom of sand patches becomes initially covered with crusts.Vegetation and 0-2 cm surface soil condition improved in the erosional area,but this improvement was not yet evident in the depositional lobe.Factors such as disturbance,climate change,and surface resistance to erosion exert notable influences on the formation and dynamics of sand patches.The results can provide evidence for the future treatment of sand patches and the management of the protection system of Shapotou section of the Baotou-Lanzhou railway.

Polymer engineering for electrodes of aqueous zinc ion batteries

With the increasing demand for scalable and cost-effective electrochemical energy storage,aqueous zinc ion batteries(AZIBs)have a broad application prospect as an inexpensive,efficient,and naturally secure energy storage device.However,the limitations suffered by AZIBs,including volume expansion and active materials dissolution of the cathode,electrochemical corrosion,irreversible side reactions,zinc dendrites of the anode,have seriously decelerated the civilianization process of AZIBs.Currently,polymers have tremendous superiority for application in AZIBs attributed to their exceptional chemical stability,tunable structure,high energy density and outstanding mechanical properties.Considering the expanding applications of AZIBs and the superiority of polymers,this comprehensive paper meticulously reviews the benefits of utilizing polymeric applied to cathodes and anodes,respectively.To begin with,with adjustable structure as an entry point,the correlation between polymer structure and the function of energy storage as well as optimization is deeply investigated in respect to the mechanism.Then,depending on the diversity of properties and structures,the development of polymers in AZIBs is summarized,including conductive polymers,redox polymers as well as carbon composite polymers for cathode and polyvinylidene fluoride-,carbonyl-,amino-,nitrile-based polymers for anode,and a comprehensive evaluation of the shortcomings of these strategies is provided.Finally,an outlook highlights some of the challenges posed by the application of polymers and offers insights into the potential future direction of polymers in AZIBs.It is designed to provide a thorough reference for researchers and developers working on polymer for AZIBs.

Chemical modification of barite for improving the performance of weighting materials for water-based drilling fluids

With increasing drilling depth and large dosage of weighting materials,drilling fluids with high solid content are characterized by poor stability,high viscosity,large water loss,and thick mud cake,easier leading to reservoir damage and wellbore instability.In this paper,micronized barite(MB)was modified(mMB)by grafting with hydrophilic polymer onto the surface through the free radical polymerization to displace conventional API barite partly.The suspension stability of water-based drilling fluids(WBDFs)weighted with API barite:mMB=2:1 in 600 g was significantly enhanced compared with that with API barite/WBDFs,exhibiting the static sag factor within 0.54 and the whole stability index of 2.The viscosity and yield point reached the minimum,with a reduction of more than 40%compared with API barite only at the same density.Through multi-stage filling and dense accumulation of weighting materials and clays,filtration loss was decreased,mud cake quality was improved,and simultaneously it had great reservoir protection performance,and the permeability recovery rate reached 87%.In addition,it also effectively improved the lubricity of WBDFs.The sticking coefficient of mud cake was reduced by 53.4%,and the friction coefficient was 0.2603.Therefore,mMB can serve as a versatile additive to control the density,rheology,filtration,and stability of WBDFs weighted with API barite,thus regulating comprehensive performance and achieving reservoir protection capacity.This work opened up a new path for the productive drilling of extremely deep and intricate wells by providing an efficient method for managing the performance of high-density WBDFs.

Redundant Data Detection and Deletion to Meet Privacy Protection Requirements in Blockchain-Based Edge Computing Environment

With the rapid development of information technology,IoT devices play a huge role in physiological health data detection.The exponential growth of medical data requires us to reasonably allocate storage space for cloud servers and edge nodes.The storage capacity of edge nodes close to users is limited.We should store hotspot data in edge nodes as much as possible,so as to ensure response timeliness and access hit rate;However,the current scheme cannot guarantee that every sub-message in a complete data stored by the edge node meets the requirements of hot data;How to complete the detection and deletion of redundant data in edge nodes under the premise of protecting user privacy and data dynamic integrity has become a challenging problem.Our paper proposes a redundant data detection method that meets the privacy protection requirements.By scanning the cipher text,it is determined whether each sub-message of the data in the edge node meets the requirements of the hot data.It has the same effect as zero-knowledge proof,and it will not reveal the privacy of users.In addition,for redundant sub-data that does not meet the requirements of hot data,our paper proposes a redundant data deletion scheme that meets the dynamic integrity of the data.We use Content Extraction Signature(CES)to generate the remaining hot data signature after the redundant data is deleted.The feasibility of the scheme is proved through safety analysis and efficiency analysis.

VKFQ:A Verifiable Keyword Frequency Query Framework with Local Differential Privacy in Blockchain

With its untameable and traceable properties,blockchain technology has been widely used in the field of data sharing.How to preserve individual privacy while enabling efficient data queries is one of the primary issues with secure data sharing.In this paper,we study verifiable keyword frequency(KF)queries with local differential privacy in blockchain.Both the numerical and the keyword attributes are present in data objects;the latter are sensitive and require privacy protection.However,prior studies in blockchain have the problem of trilemma in privacy protection and are unable to handle KF queries.We propose an efficient framework that protects data owners’privacy on keyword attributes while enabling quick and verifiable query processing for KF queries.The framework computes an estimate of a keyword’s frequency and is efficient in query time and verification object(VO)size.A utility-optimized local differential privacy technique is used for privacy protection.The data owner adds noise locally into data based on local differential privacy so that the attacker cannot infer the owner of the keywords while keeping the difference in the probability distribution of the KF within the privacy budget.We propose the VB-cm tree as the authenticated data structure(ADS).The VB-cm tree combines the Verkle tree and the Count-Min sketch(CM-sketch)to lower the VO size and query time.The VB-cm tree uses the vector commitment to verify the query results.The fixed-size CM-sketch,which summarizes the frequency of multiple keywords,is used to estimate the KF via hashing operations.We conduct an extensive evaluation of the proposed framework.The experimental results show that compared to theMerkle B+tree,the query time is reduced by 52.38%,and the VO size is reduced by more than one order of magnitude.

Enhancing Security and Privacy in Distributed Face Recognition Systems through Blockchain and GAN Technologies

The use of privacy-enhanced facial recognition has increased in response to growing concerns about data securityand privacy in the digital age. This trend is spurred by rising demand for face recognition technology in a varietyof industries, including access control, law enforcement, surveillance, and internet communication. However,the growing usage of face recognition technology has created serious concerns about data monitoring and userprivacy preferences, especially in context-aware systems. In response to these problems, this study provides a novelframework that integrates sophisticated approaches such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Blockchain,and distributed computing to solve privacy concerns while maintaining exact face recognition. The framework’spainstaking design and execution strive to strike a compromise between precise face recognition and protectingpersonal data integrity in an increasingly interconnected environment. Using cutting-edge tools like Dlib for faceanalysis,Ray Cluster for distributed computing, and Blockchain for decentralized identity verification, the proposedsystem provides scalable and secure facial analysis while protecting user privacy. The study’s contributions includethe creation of a sustainable and scalable solution for privacy-aware face recognition, the implementation of flexibleprivacy computing approaches based on Blockchain networks, and the demonstration of higher performanceover previous methods. Specifically, the proposed StyleGAN model has an outstanding accuracy rate of 93.84%while processing high-resolution images from the CelebA-HQ dataset, beating other evaluated models such asProgressive GAN 90.27%, CycleGAN 89.80%, and MGAN 80.80%. With improvements in accuracy, speed, andprivacy protection, the framework has great promise for practical use in a variety of fields that need face recognitiontechnology. This study paves the way for future research in privacy-enhanced face recognition systems, emphasizingthe significance of using cutting-edge technology to meet rising privacy issues in digital identity.