Flexner's legacy and the future of medical education:Embracing challenge and opportunity

This editorial comments on the article by Alzerwi.We focus on the development course,present challenges,and future perspectives of medical education.Modern medical education is gradually undergoing significant and profound changes worldwide.The emergence of new ideas,methodologies,and techniques has created opportunities for medical education developments and brought new concerns and challenges,ultimately promoting virtuous progress in medical education reform.The sustainable development of medical education needs joint efforts and support from governments,medical colleges,hospitals,researchers,administrators,and educators.

A comprehensive look at the psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology of spinal cord injury and its progression: mechanisms and clinical opportunities

Spinal cord injury(SCI)is a devastating and disabling medical condition generally caused by a traumatic event(primary injury).This initial trauma is accompanied by a set of biological mechanisms directed to ameliorate neural damage but also exacerbate initial damage(secondary injury).The alterations that occur in the spinal cord have not only local but also systemic consequences and virtually all organs and tissues of the body incur important changes after SCI,explaining the progression and detrimental consequences related to this condition.Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology(PNIE)is a growing area of research aiming to integrate and explore the interactions among the different systems that compose the human organism,considering the mind and the body as a whole.The initial traumatic event and the consequent neurological disruption trigger immune,endocrine,and multisystem dysfunction,which in turn affect the patient's psyche and well-being.In the present review,we will explore the most important local and systemic consequences of SCI from a PNIE perspective,defining the changes occurring in each system and how all these mechanisms are interconnected.Finally,potential clinical approaches derived from this knowledge will also be collectively presented with the aim to develop integrative therapies to maximize the clinical management of these patients.

Realm of hepatitis E:Challenges and opportunities

Hepatitis E virus(HEV),responsible for widespread viral hepatitis,infects approximately 2.3 billion individuals globally,with a significant mortality burden in Asia.The virus,primarily transmitted through contaminated water and undercooked meat,is often underdiagnosed,particularly in immunocompromised patients.Current HEV treatments,while effective,are limited by adverse effects,necessitating research into safer alternatives.Moreover,HEV’s extrahepatic manifestations,impacting the nervous and renal systems,remain poorly understood.This study underscores the imperative for enhanced HEV research,improved diagnostic methods,and more effective treatments,coupled with increased public health awareness and preventive strategies.

Developing Healthcare Infrastructure in Saudi Arabia Using Smart Technologies: Challenges and Opportunities

This study aims to explore the challenges and opportunities associated with developing healthcare infrastructure in Saudi Arabia through the implementation of smart technologies. The healthcare sector in Saudi Arabia is undergoing significant transformation, and the integration of smart technologies has the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery, improve patient outcomes, and enhance the overall healthcare experience. However, several challenges need to be addressed in order to fully leverage the benefits of smart technologies in healthcare infrastructure development. This research identifies and analyzes these challenges while also highlighting the opportunities that arise from the adoption of smart technologies in the Saudi Arabian healthcare system. The findings contribute to the understanding of the current state of healthcare infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and provide insights into the strategies and policies required to overcome challenges and maximize the benefits of smart technologies in healthcare.

Opportunities, Challenges, and Countermeasures of China Myanmar Economic and Trade Cooperation under the Background of RCEP

China and Myanmar are geographically adjacent and have close economic and trade cooperation. China has been Myanmar’s largest trading partner and largest source of investment for many consecutive years. With the official entry into force of RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) for Myanmar on May 1, 2022, the reduction of trade tariffs on goods and flexible rules of origin between China and Myanmar will undoubtedly bring more practical results to China Myanmar economic and trade cooperation. However, the implementation of RCEP in Myanmar may face a series of challenges such as poor business environment, weak human resource management, and outdated infrastructure construction. Finally, the article provides countermeasures for China Myanmar economic and trade cooperation from three aspects: optimizing the business environment to attract Chinese investment, increasing investment in education and training to improve labor quality, strengthening infrastructure construction to enhance economic support.

The Opportunities,Dilemmas,and Paths for the Development of Adult Higher Education in the New Era

This paper comprehensively analyzes the development opportunities and realistic dilemmas faced by adult higher education in China in the new era,and puts forward corresponding strategies as solutions.With the construction of a learning society,the development of digital technology,and the popularization of the concept of lifelong learning,adult higher education has unprecedented development opportunities.At the same time,these forms of education are facing a series of dilemmas due to challenges such as unsound guarantee mechanisms and traditional enrollment competition.Through the establishment of perfect legal and policy guarantees,transformation of school running mode,meeting the diversified needs of learners,and other multi-faceted measures,the development of adult higher education can be effectively promoted to meet the needs of individual and social development.

Research on the Impact and Opportunities of the Digital Economy Promoting the Development of Real Economy

The digital economy has infused vitality into the transformation and development of the real economy,urging enterprises to break through core technological barriers,address bottleneck issues,and improve their core competitiveness.It fosters the comprehensive digital transformation of agriculture,manufacturing,and service sectors,improving the dynamism of the real economy and fostering more consumption hotspots.Efforts are underway to enhance industrial supply chains and innovation chains,optimize regional resource allocation,and promote a virtuous cycle within the real economy.Initiatives are being undertaken to standardize the development of digital economic platforms,promote the high-quality development of regional economies,and leverage the advantages of the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.

Challenges and Opportunities for the Development of Ideological and Political Education in Colleges and Universities in the New Media Era

The rapid advancement of new media technology has had a great impact on people’s lifestyles,and brought opportunities and challenges to the development of ideological and political education in colleges and universities.Ideological and political education in colleges and universities is faced with the challenge of how to grasp the opportunity,ride on the express train of science and technology,and implement the concepts of“all-round education”and“five ideologies and politics.”

Opportunities and Challenges of College Mental Health Education from the Perspective of Big Data

This paper explores the opportunities and challenges of college mental health education from the perspective of big data.Firstly,through literature review,the importance of mental health education and the current issues are elucidated.Then,from the perspective of big data,the potential opportunities of big data in college mental health education are analyzed,including data-driven personalized education,real-time monitoring and warning systems,and interdisciplinary research and collaboration.At the same time,the challenges faced by college mental health education under the perspective of big data are also pointed out,such as data privacy and security issues,insufficient data analysis and interpretation capabilities,and inadequate technical facilities and talent support.Lastly,the research content of this paper is summarized,and directions and suggestions for future research are proposed.

略论游憩机会谱(Recreation Opportunity Spectrum,ROS)框架体系

游憩机会谱为规划和管理游憩资源提供了框架。它被证明是一种有效的游憩机会清单分类方法,能够帮助确认管理决策的后果以及作为一种手段向公众通告有关游憩资源环境的信息及其预期的体验。对ROS的概念进行了阐述,并介绍了确定谱系分级因子的标准以及主要的应用目的。最后对游憩机会谱在中国的应用前景提出了两点展望。

Agricultural Land Use Responses to the Rising Labor Opportunity Cost in Sui County,China

Rising labor opportunity cost is one of the most important characteristics of farmers' economic environment in present China,and brings great agricultural land use changes correspondingly.Based on the stratified random sample of rural households in Sui County,this paper estimates the opportunity cost of farm labors,and then analyzes its effect on farmers' agricultural land use decisions.The findings show that the households with higher labor opportunity cost are more likely to reduce labor intensity and increase labor-saving input in their land use decisions.From the descriptive analysis,we also find these households always prefer grain crop planting,reduce yield-raising input or even rent out their cultivated land.As labor and yield-raising input are two essential positive factors for grain production,continuous declining of labor input and yield-raising input caused by rising labor opportunity cost may influence the grain yield per unit area in the future.

Agricultural opportunity costs assessment based on planting suitability:a case study in a mountain county in southwest China

Payment for ecosystem services(PES) has become an increasingly popular means of ecosystem conservation. Opportunity cost is an important factor to increase the investment efficiency of PES projects.However, the distribution of opportunity cost is usually unclear in mountainous regions due to the obvious environment changes. In this study, we developed a framework to assess the distribution of agricultural opportunity costs in mountainous regions and applied this method to Baoxing County, a typical mountainous county in Sichuan Province of southwest China. Planting suitability of 17 crops was assessed based on agricultural statistics and natural conditions data within a GIS environment.Agricultural opportunity cost was quantified with a weighted summation of farmers' willingness to cultivate and each crop's opportunity cost. Finally,specific agricultural opportunity cost was obtained according to the spatial areas of the protection programs and land use status. The results showed that agricultural opportunity costs of PES in Baoxing County were estimated to be more than $30 million,with a mean of 400.85 $/ha. Agricultural opportunity costs in mountainous regions displayed some obvious spatial variation and areas with lower agricultural opportunity costs could be selected as priority areas for PES. Our findings revealed that the planting suitability evaluation can make agricultural opportunity costs mapping more reasonable. It will be helpful for the PES programs implementation in mountainous regions.

Risk-opportunity analyses and production peak forecasting on world conventional oil and gas perspectives

To investigate the situation of conventional oil and gas, this paper examines the global oil and gas discoveries, proved reserves, production, consumption and price. All the influencing factors can be subjected to risk and opportunity analyses, so in the paper, we build upon a risk-opportunity analysis framework, which is a new train of thought. To forecast the peak time of oil and gas production, we used the methods of multi-Hubbert model forecasting and data forecasting. Our results showed that the world oil production will reach a peak between 2010 and 2015 and the gas production will reach a peak around 2030 Oil peak is coming and gas peak is on the way. The main purpose of forecasting oil and gas production peak is give people enough time for preparing mitigation and adaptation plans. This means taking decisive action well before the problem is obvious.

Analysis of Factors Influencing Farmers' Identification of Entrepreneurial Opportunity

Based on the survey data of entrepreneurship concerning farmers in China,this article uses the multivariate adjustment regression analysis method,to analyze the factors influencing farmers' identification of entrepreneurial opportunity and the mechanism. The results show that demographic characteristics are still an important factor influencing farmers' identification of entrepreneurial opportunity,but the extent of its influence is weaker than entrepreneurs' trait. The new trait theory is verified in farmers' entrepreneurship opportunity behavior; entrepreneurship environment is becoming an important factor influencing entrepreneurial opportunity identification,whose regulation effect on entrepreneurs' social network and previous experience is stronger than the regulation effect on entrepreneurs' psychological trait.

Opportunity Costs of Emissions Caused by Land-Use Changes

Amid the euphoria of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and REDD+ discussions, the expectations of large financial gains raise the interest of all. A country, however, will only enjoy REDD benefits if the cost of REDD is lower than the benefit. The opportunity cost analysis is an effective tool for assessing the feasibility of REDD+ since the largest portion of costs associated with REDD+ and can help to identify fair compensation for those who change their land use. The opportunity cost analysis has been exercised in Tanjung Jabung Barat (Tanjabar) district-Indonesia to examine the economic-feasibility of carbon emission reduction under different type carbon price scenarios. This study reveals a sharp decline of land-use systems with high carbon-stock and low profitability is obvious. On mineral soil, low carbon-stock and high profitability (mostly oil palm) has increased rapidly, especially in the period 2000-2009. It has become the dominant land-use system. The low-to-medium carbon stock and medium profitability land-use category increased from 1990 to 2005 but declined from 2005 to 2009. The low carbon-stock and low profitability category was constant and the proportion of the area was below 15%. The ex-ante analysis in predicting the potential for future emissions reduction in Tanjabar through REDD+ approaches shows that the cumulative emission of Tanjabar in 2020 is estimated at 61.91 Mg CO2-eq/Ha.Year, while the reduced emission by excluding all land use conversion below $5 threshold is estimated at 51.71 Mg CO2-eq/Ha.Year. This means that there is a potential for 16% emission reduction using $5/ton CO2-eq incentive. Another important finding in this study is that if the price of carbon increases by double to $10, the amount of reduced emission does not change much. This can use as a basis for determining the right amount of incentive for trade-off between economic profitability and climate change mitigation effort in Tanjabar using REDD+ scheme both at seller and buyer perspectives.

Tourism sectorization opportunity spectrum model and space partition of tourism urbanization area:a case of the Mayangxi ecotourism area,Fujian province,China

Nowadays, tourism has become an increasingly significant driving force of modern urbanization in China. However, it has caused varieties of problems, such as resource unreasonable utilization, society unfair play, and environment pollution, etc. Thus, the establishment of an efficient and sustainable space partition model for tourism urbanization, from the geographical perspective, is highly necessary and urgent. Herein, a new evaluation model of tourist town space, referred to as Tourism Sectorization Opportunity Spectrum(TSOS), is established on the relationships between productionliving-ecology spaces. TSOS is a kind of quantitative evaluation model involving such factors as urban living area, ecological conservation area and the tourism industry. Furthermore, the analysis of quantitative production-living-ecology spatial overlap has been utilized for space division in a tourism urbanization area. This paper, using both the TSOS model and GIS technology, analyzes the spatial restructure of the Mayangxi ecotourism area. Theresult demonstrates that tourism industrial space takes the Shanchong Village as a core which shows a pattern of local regional agglomeration and a fuzzy edge extending along the entire Mayangxi River. The urban living area should be consolidated in the Shili village with the supporting facilities and living space for tourism. In addition, Tianzhu Mountain forest park should be the key environmental protection area. The case study on the Mayangxi ecotourism area verifies that the TSOS model has strong operability. Therefore, TSOS model provides a scientific foundation for the space reconstruction of new urbanization area, and an effective tool for optimizing the space partition of a tourism urbanization area.

Challenge and opportunity of ionic liquidsdAn interview with Prof.Douglas R.Macfarlane

Expert Profile:Prof.Douglas R.MacFarlane is an Australian Laureate Fellow at Monash University's School of Chemistry and leader of the Energy Program in the Australian Centre for Electromaterials Science.He is the Australian Academy of Science's Craig Medalist 2018 and winner of the Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation 2018.

ROLE OF INTERVENING OPPORTUNITY IN TOURIST DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT

Intervening opportunity is an important factor in spatial interaction, and has very important impacts on tourist destination development in a region. There are few literatures on this topic in tourist researches, and especially in China fewer tourist researchers pay attention to intervening opportunity theory. This article, taking Lin’an as a case study, aims to introduce intervening opportunity theory in tourist destination development by the comprehensive ana-lysis of some data including literatures, Internet information, longitudinal data and some tourist surveys. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are all used in this research. Firstly, the authors expatiate upon the definition of intervening opportunity, by reviewing the literatures in detail, take Lin’an of Zhejiang Province as a case study, and then analyze some necessary factors of intervening opportunity, such as regional tourist demands and supplies, tourist attractions, spatial distance and transportation, tourist images and costs, regional competition and cooperation in tourist destinations. Finally the impacts of intervening opportunity on Lin’an tourist development are analyzed in detail. The results show that intervening opportunity do not occur everywhere, and there must be some critical factors, and intervening opportunity surely plays important roles in tourist destination development. The tourist development in Lin’an is attributed to intervening opportunity of the spatial location between Hangzhou and Huangshan that are two famous tourist cities in China, and the occurrence of intervening opportunities in Lin’an is the integration of some external and internal factors.

Estimating the opportunity costs of avoiding oil palm-based deforestation in Indonesia:Implications for REDD

Reducing emissions due to deforestation is considered a low-cost option for mitigating climate change.However,the recent literature suggests higher opportunity costs because of specific deforestation drivers,which render reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation(REDD+)for mitigating climate change an uncertain,less attractive,and controversial option.Indonesia is one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters.Since 1989,53.80%of its oil palm expansion has come from forestlands,which has generated a significant amount of carbon emissions.This study uses official data and results from the relevant literature to estimate the costs of oil palm-based deforestation under various scenario assumptions,including different output prices,yields,time horizons,and discount rates.We also calculate the additional cost to preserve a 1-ha forest.We demonstrate that the average opportunity cost from avoiding oil palm-based deforestation is 24.42 USD/tCO_(2)eq in Indonesia,approximately 1.3 times the 2011 EUA carbon price.Additional sums of around 5,466.90–11,042.96 USD/ha should be provided to landowners for the deforestation avoidance caused by oil palm expansion.Special attention should be given to the extensive oil palm expansion in Indonesia and the resulting high opportunity costs for achieving the REDD+​target.

Astroglial heterogeneity:merely a neurobiological question? Or an opportunity for neuroprotection and regeneration after brain injury?

Pioneer studies by Ramon y Cajal in the early nineteenth century evidenced that astrocytes are a heterogeneous cell population. The initial division of the glial family proposed by Rudolf Albert von Kolliker and William Lloyd Andriezen that separated glia into two groups, fibrous glia and protoplasmic glia, was further refined by Ramon y Cajal,