Socio-economic development of countries based on the Composite Country Development Index(CCDI)

World experience indicates the existence of significant imbalances in the development of countries.The problem of assessing the rational development of the regional and national economy is becoming urgent,since such assessments can prevent development imbalances across countries.The aim of this study is to elaborate a methodology to assess the countries’socio-economic development by integraring 12 modern indices of socio-economic development into the Composite Country Development Index(CCDI).The methodology of this research was based on a set of key indices that described socio-economic development level in four fields(social development,digital development,economic development,and environmental security)and then these indices were integrated into the CCDI.The study further applied factor analysis and R-Studio software to define the gaps of social and economic development in 59 selected countries using the trigonometric function of the angle sine.The correlation analysis confirmed the existence of a close interrelation among the studied countries.This paper noted that due to the emergence of new priorities,it is necessary to revise the assessment methodology of socio-economic development level and expand them to cover the decisive factors.This was confirmed by the results obtained,demonstrating various combinations of the development level in the four fields and their impact on the CCDI.The scientific contribution of this research is to form a methodology(e.g.,the CCDI)for evaluating the socio-economic development level of countries in the world.

Large-scale interplant exchange of macromolecules between soybean and dodder under nutrient stresses

Parasitic plants and their hosts communicate through haustorial connections.Nutrient deficiency is a common stress for plants,yet little is known about whether and how host plants and parasites communicate during adaptation to such nutrient stresses.In this study,we used transcriptomics and proteomics to analyze how soybean(Glycine max)and its parasitizing dodder(Cuscuta australis)respond to nitrate and phosphate deficiency(-N and-P).After-N and-P treatment,the soybean and dodder plants exhibited substantial changes of transcriptome and proteome,although soybean plants showed very few transcriptional responses to-P and dodder did not show any transcriptional changes to either-N or-P.Importantly,large-scale interplant transport of mRNAs and proteins was detected.Although the mobile mRNAs only comprised at most 0.2%of the transcriptomes,the foreign mobile proteins could reach 6.8%of the total proteins,suggesting that proteins may be the major forms of interplant communications.Furthermore,the interplant mobility of macromolecules was specifically affected by the nutrient regimes and the transport of these macromolecules was very likely independently regulated.This study provides new insight into the communication between host plants and parasites under stress conditions.

Measuring Causal Effect with ARDL-BART: A Macroeconomic Application

Modeling dynamic systems with linear parametric models usually suffer limitation which affects forecasting performance and policy implications. This paper advances a non-parametric autoregressive distributed lag model that employs a Bayesian additive regression tree (BART). The performance of the BART model is compared with selection models like Lasso, Elastic Net, and Bayesian networks in simulation experiments with linear and non-linear data generating processes (DGP), and on US macroeconomic time series data. The results show that the BART model is quite competitive against the linear parametric methods when the DGP is linear, and outperforms the competing methods when the DGP is non-linear. The empirical results suggest that the BART estimators are generally more efficient than the traditional linear methods when modeling and forecasting macroeconomic time series.

Economic Impact of GM Hysteria on EU Feed Market

A growing world population coupled with changing diet is projected to increase demand for food production by 70% by 2050. Helping farmers lose less of their crops will be a key factor in promoting food security. In addition to pesticides GM crops will continue to be a vital tool in the diverse range of technologies that can maintain and improve living standards for the people of the world. The EU is dependent for 65% on imports of protein-rich feedstuffs for which there are no substitutes in the short term. The EU livestock sector uses imported soybean, soybean meal and maize by-products as animal feed. Without an adequate supply of these feed ingredients, the EU’s livestock production will loose competitiveness. However, demands from the EU differ to those from third countries with respect to the GM varieties grown, and what are authorised for import into the EU. The risk that supplies of soya products and maize by-products could be affected by the low-level presence of non-EU approved GM material has not been fully resolved as the EU has allowed just a 0.1% tolerance for this plus 0.05% tolerance for measuring uncertainty. This could cause supply problems for the animal feed industry, and ultimately supply of food to consumers. The importance of the EU market and EU requirements for the major soybean and maize exporter countries is declining over time and it is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to maintain a non-GM supply chain in the EU. Food companies and supermarkets will struggle to stay GM-free. EU member states dependent on imports will be forced to deal with more GM presence in their chain. Market forces are forcing governments to authorize products more efficiently, develop tolerance policies or tolerate unapproved varieties in their imports.

Medical Errors in Greece: An Economic Analysis of Compensations Awarded by Civil Courts (2000-2009)

Medical errors are reported with increased frequency both in Europe and in the United States of America and measures are put in place to deal with the problem. In Greece, more and more patients think that it is likely to experience a medical error during health care delivery and the organizations they can turn to if this happens are hardly enough and with meagre response. The consequences of medical errors are multiple and complex with significant financial implications. Nowadays there is an urgent need to resolve problems that refer to cost containment in the Greek Health System. Some research findings from the review of 128 compensations awarded by civil courts for the years 2000 to 2009 for medical errors in Greece are quite interesting. The mean compensation amounted to €292,613 representing 35.41% of claimed compensation. Only a small proportion of medical errors gain publicity as the majority of claims get settled out of court, covered by the insurance policy or the hospitals. The burden of the obvious and hidden cost affects not only the patient, his family and the hospital but also the whole of the society. This comes from our estimation that the level of compensation awarded by the civil courts for medical errors is remarkable high. Unfortunately only some estimates of the cost are possible due to the lack of statistical data. The creation of an independent oversight body for the review of medical errors and complaints nationwide as well as the modernization of the hospitals’ monitoring systems is necessary in order to handle the medical error phenomenon. Above all, cooperation and trust between patients, health care professionals, hospital managers, medical boards and the government are essential to get to the root of the problem.

The molecular mechanism of WRINKLED1 transcription factor regulating oil accumulation in developing seeds of castor bean

The transcription factor WRINKLED1(WRI1),a member of AP2 gene family that contain typical AP2 domains,has been considered as a master regulator regulating oil biosynthesis in oilseeds.However,the regulatory mechanism of RcWRI1 in regulating oil accumulation during seed development has not been clearly addressed.Castor bean(Ricinus communis)is one of the most important non-edible oil crops and its seed oils are rich in hydroxy fatty acids,widely applied in industry.In this study,based on castor bean reference genome,three RcWRIs genes(RcWRI1,RcWRI2 and RcWRI3)were identified and the expressed association of RcWRI1 with oil accumulation were determined.Heterologous transformation of RcWRI1 significantly increased oil content in tobacco leaf,confirming that RcWRI1 activate lipid biosynthesis pathway.Using DNA Affinity Purification sequencing(DAP-seq)technology,we confirmed RcWRI1 binding with Transcription Start Site of genes and identified 7961 WRI1-binding candidate genes.Functionally,these identified genes were mainly involved in diverse metabolism pathways(including lipid biosynthesis).Three cis-elements AW-box([CnTnG](n)7[CG])and AW-boxes like([GnAnC](n)6[GC]/[GnAnC](n)7[G])bound with RcWRI1 were identified.Co-expression network analysis of RcWRI1 further found that RcWRI1 might be widely involved in biosynthesis of storage materials during seed development.In particular,yeast one hybrid experiments found that both AP2 domains within RcWRI1 were required in binding targeted genes.These results not only provide new evidence to understand the regulatory mechanism of RcWRI1 in regulation of oil accumulation during castor bean seed development,but also give candidate gene resource for subsequent genetic improvement toward increasing oil content in oilseed crops.

Computational Solution to the Problems of Projectile Motion under Significant Linear Drag Effect

This paper investigates the computational solution to the problem of projectile motion under a significant linear drag effect. The drag force acting on the particle within the medium of propagation is proportional to the cross-section area of the projectile, the velocity of the particle, and the medium’s density. From zero air resistance force (vacuum) the problems are well known with solutions, but with air resistance (drag force) the problems have no exact analytical solutions which lead to most of the significant scientific research works using numerical methods. Therefore, this study aims to present the analysis of the computational modelling of drag force exerted by the surrounding medium on the linear motion. However, the horizontal and vertical components of differential equations of motion were derived and characterized from the solutions governed by Newton’s 2nd law of motion. The baseball features were presented as the projectile (object) in this work. In addition, the numerical computational results were received from FreeMat. The results were discussed and compared with those from the vacuum. Moreover, the displacements, velocities, range, and trajectories of the projectile were all discussed and a conclusion was made.

Business Model Analysis of Shunxiang Hazelnut Planting Cooperative Using the Business Model Canvas

Agricultural cooperatives serve as typical entities within the agricultural sector of China and encounter common representative challenges during their growth.This study employs the business model canvas theory to analyze the profit and business models of the Shunxiang Hazelnut Planting Cooperative while clarifying its ongoing developmental hurdles.By addressing pivotal concerns the paper puts forth branding suggestions and outlines future developmental directions.

Root hemiparasitism in Malania oleifera(Olacaceae), a neglected aspect in research of the highly valued tree species

Malania oleifera(Olacaceae)is a valued tree species,mostly because its seeds have high precious fatty acid content(particularly nervonic acid).However,seedling mortality rates are often high and regeneration of this tree has been problematic,which greatly hinders its utilization at a large scale.Cultivation difficulties of some tree species in the family Olacaceae have been attributed to their root hemiparasitic habit.Prompted by field observations and the taxonomic proximity of M.oleifera to root hemiparasites in Olacaceae,we hypothesized that tuberous structures observed on the roots of M.oleifera are parasitic organs known as haustoria.To test this hypothesis,we collected root samples from M.oleifera plants of various ages and growth conditions,investigated the morphological and anatomical features of tuberous structures and their connections to neighboring roots.Our analyses confirmed that M.oleifera are root hemiparasites.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first empirical report on root hemiparasitism in M.oleifera.Because life strategies of root hemiparasitic plants differ greatly from autotrophic plants,the root hemiparasitic habit needs to be taken into account for successful seedling regeneration of M.oleifera.This study establishes the foundation for investigations into a long-neglected but essential aspect in research of these highly valued tree species.

Acaricidal activities of some essential oils and their monoterpenoidal constituents against house dust mite,Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Acari:Pyroglyphidae)

The acaricidal activities of fourteen essential oils and fourteen of their major monoterpenoids were tested against house dust mites Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. Five concentrations were used over two different time intervals 24 and 48 h under laboratory conditions. In general, it was noticed that the acaricidal effect based on LC50 of either essential oils or monoterpenoids against the mite was time dependant. The LC50 values were decreased by increasing of exposure time. Clove, matrecary, chenopodium, rosemary, eucalyptus and caraway oils were shown to have high activity. As for the monoterpenoids, cinnamaldehyde and chlorothymol were found to be the most effective followed by citronellol. This study suggests the use of the essential oils and their major constituents as ecofriendly biodegradable agents for the control of house dust mite, D. pteronyssinus.

TRANSIENT SOLUTION FOR QUEUE-LENGTH DISTRIBUTION OF Geometry/G/1 QUEUEING MODEL

In this paper, the Geometry/G/1 queueing model with inter-arrival times generated by a geometric（parameter p） distribution according to a late arrival system with delayed access and service times independently distributed with distribution {gj }, j≥ 1 is studied. By a simple method （techniques of probability decomposition, renewal process theory） that is different from the techniques used by Hunter（1983）, the transient property of the queue with initial state i（i ≥ 0） is discussed. The recursion expression for u -transform of transient queue-length distribution at any time point n^＋ is obtained, and the recursion expression of the limiting queue length distribution is also obtained.

Current understanding of maize and rice defense against insect herbivores

Plants have sophisticated defense systems to fend off insect herbivores. How plants defend against herbivores in dicotyledonous plants, such as Arabidopsis and tobacco, have been relatively well studied,yet little is known about the defense responses in monocotyledons. Here, we review the current understanding of rice(Oryza sativa) and maize(Zea mays) defense against insects. In rice and maize,elicitors derived from insect herbivore oral secretions or oviposition fluids activate phytohormone signaling, and transcriptomic changes mediated mainly by transcription factors lead to accumulation of defense-related secondary metabolites. Direct defenses, such as trypsin protein inhibitors in rice and benzoxazinoids in maize, have anti-digestive or toxic effects on insect herbivores. Herbivory-induced plant volatiles, such as terpenes, are indirect defenses, which attract the natural enemies of herbivores. R gene-mediated defenses against herbivores are also discussed.

Optimization of a dynamic uncertain causality graph for fault diagnosis in nuclear power plant

Fault diagnostics is important for safe operation of nuclear power plants(NPPs). In recent years, data-driven approaches have been proposed and implemented to tackle the problem, e.g., neural networks, fuzzy and neurofuzzy approaches, support vector machine, K-nearest neighbor classifiers and inference methodologies. Among these methods, dynamic uncertain causality graph(DUCG)has been proved effective in many practical cases. However, the causal graph construction behind the DUCG is complicate and, in many cases, results redundant on the symptoms needed to correctly classify the fault. In this paper, we propose a method to simplify causal graph construction in an automatic way. The method consists in transforming the expert knowledge-based DCUG into a fuzzy decision tree(FDT) by extracting from the DUCG a fuzzy rule base that resumes the used symptoms at the basis of the FDT. Genetic algorithm(GA) is, then, used for the optimization of the FDT, by performing a wrapper search around the FDT: the set of symptoms selected during the iterative search are taken as the best set of symptoms for the diagnosis of the faults that can occur in the system. The effectiveness of the approach is shown with respect to a DUCG model initially built to diagnose 23 faults originally using 262 symptoms of Unit-1 in the Ningde NPP of the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation. The results show that the FDT, with GA-optimized symptoms and diagnosis strategy, can drive the construction of DUCG and lower the computational burden without loss of accuracy in diagnosis.

The measure and decision of technical risk in the development of naval vessels

The risks in development of navy vessels were explored. The resources of technical risk in the design and development of vessels were mentioned. It was pointed that technical risk dominated the other risk components. Based on the writers' understanding and experience from risk analysis and risk management to the development of a navy vessel, four measure indexes of technical risk were presented. The decision criteria and the rules corresponding to the indexes were established by the statistic information.

Effect of lead acetate toxicity on experimental male albino rat

Objective:To evaluate the effect of different doses of lead acetate(1/20,1/40 and 1/60 of LD_(50))on body weight gain,blood picture,plasma prolein profile and the function of liver,kidney and thyroid gland.Methods:Male albino rats were divided into four groups,the first group represented the health control animals,while the second,third and fourth groups were ingested orally with sub lethal doses of load acetate(1/20,1/40 and 1/60)of the oral LD_(50),respectively.One dose was ingested every two days during the experimental period(14 weeks)including the adaptation time.Blood was collected and used for all analysis.Results:The results showed that,the ingestion of Pb^(2+)induced significant stimulation in glutamic-pyruvic transaminase(ALT)and glutamic-oxalacetic transaminease(AST)activity.Also,total soluble protein and albumin contents of plasma were significantly decreased,while the content of globulin was changed by the Pb^(2+)treatments.The cholinesteiase activity was inhibited,but the activities of alkaline and acid phosphates and lactate dehydrogenase were stimulated,while plasma glucose level was elevated as a result of lead acetate intoxication.In case of blood picture,Pb^(2+)ingestion reduced the contents of hemoglobin and RBCs count of intoxicated rat's blood and the plasma levels of T3,T4 and blood WBCs count were decreased.Conclusions:It can be concluded that lead acetate has harmful effect on experimental male albino rats.Therefore,the present work advises people to prevent exposure to the lead compound to avoid injurious hazard risk.

Effects of freeze–thaw cycles on soil N_2O concentration and flux in the permafrost regions of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Nitrous oxide(N_2 O) is one of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; freeze–thaw cycles(FTCs) might strongly influence the emission of soil N_2 O on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau(QTP). However, there is a lack of in situ research on the characteristics of soil N_2 O concentration and flux in response to variations in soil properties caused by FTCs.Here, we report the effect of FTC-induced changes in soil properties on the soil N_2 O concentration and flux in the permafrost region of the higher reaches of the Shule River Basin on the northeastern margin of the QTP. We measured chemical properties of the topsoil, activities of soil microorganisms, and air temperature(AT), as well as soil N_2 O concentration and flux, over an annual cycle from July 31, 2011, to July 30, 2012. The results showed that soil N_2 O concentration was significantly affected by soil temperature(ST), soil moisture(SM), soil salinity(SS), soil polyphenol oxidase(SPO), soil alkaline phosphatase(SAP), and soil culturable actinomycetes(SCA), ranked as SM>SS>ST>SPO>SAP>SCA, whereas ST significantly increased soil N_2 O flux, compared with SS. Overall, our study indicated that the soil N_2 O concentration and flux in permafrost zone FTCs were strongly affected by soil properties, especially soil moisture, soil salinity, and soil temperature.

Influence of tourist disturbance on soil properties, plant communities, and surface water quality in the Tianchi scenic area of Xinjiang, China

The impact of tourist disturbance on the environment has become a focal issue of environmental science, ecology, and travel management studies. To assess the influence of tourist disturbance on soils and plants in the Tianchi scenic area of Xinjiang, China, we compared soil properties and plant community characteristics at 0, 5, 10, and 20 m from the tourist trail within areas at three different altitudes, where the intensities of tourist disturbance are distinct. Surface water quality was also studied at three different levels relative to the Tianchi Lake. The results showed that tourist disturbance significantly increased soil pH within 10 m from the trail and soil bulk density on the edge of the trail, but significantly reduced soil organic matter and total nitrogen contents within 5 m from the trail. The number of tree seedlings on the edge of the trail and the shrub coverage and height of herbaceous plants within 5 m from the trail significantly decreased due to tourist disturbance. Changes in herbaceous plant diversity differed by soil zones. In the high altitude region, tourist disturbance led to a remarkable increase in the herbaceous plant diversity on the edge of the trail, while in the low altitude region, tourist disturbance had a low impact on the diversity of herbaceous plants. In addition, tourist activities polluted the surface water, significantly reducing water quality. Thus, current tourist activities have a significant negative impact on the ecological environment in the Tianchi scenic area.

Evaluation and Forecasting of Wind Energy Investment Risk along the Belt and Road Based on a Novel Hybrid Intelligent Model

The timely and effective investment risk assessment and forecasting are of great significance to ensure the investment safety and sustainable development of wind energy along the Belt and Road.In order to obtain the scientific and real-time forecasting result,this paper constructs a novel hybrid intelligent model based on improved cloud model combined with GRA-TOPSIS and MBA-WLSSVM.Firstly,the factors influencing investment risk of wind energy along the Belt and Road are identified fromthree dimensions:endogenous risk,exogenous risk and process risk.Through the fuzzy threshold method,the final input index system is selected.Secondly,the risk evaluation method based on improved cloud model andGRA-TOPSIS is proposed.Thirdly,a modern intelligent model based on MBA-WLSSVMis designed.In modified bat algorithm(MBA),tent chaotic map is utilized to improve the basic bat algorithm,while weighted least squares support vector machine(WLSSVM)adopts wavelet kernel function to replace the traditional radial basis function to complete the model improvement.Finally,an example is given to verify the scientificity and accuracy of themodel,which is helpful for investors tomake fast and effective investment risk forecasting of wind energy along the Belt and Road.The example analysis proves that the proposedmodel can provide reference and basis for investment corpus to formulate the investment strategy in wind energy along the Belt and Road.

Asian monsoon shaped the pattern of woody dicotyledon richness in humid regions of China

Understanding how geographical patterns of plant richness are established is a key scientific question in ecology and biogeography.Climate factors,such as environmental energy,water availability,and rainfall seasonality,have been widely proposed to account for geographical patterns of plant richness at large scales.Using a compiled distribution data set of 3166 native woody dicotyledons across 732 calibration grids at the county level in humid regions of China,we explored the geographical pattern of woody dicotyledon richness and its relationship to climatic variations,especially the Asian monsoonal climate.We found that species richness decreases with increasing latitude.Our study indicates that water availability(particularly mean annual precipitation,MAP)is the major abiotic factor in determining large-scale distribution patterns of species richness,Moreover,the seasonality of rainfall variables under the Asian monsoon climate largely contributes to species richness,because species richness correlates more significantly with precipitation during the three driest consecutive months(P3 DRY)than precipitation during the three wettest consecutive months(P3 WET).Therefore,we conclude that woody dicotyledon richness in humid regions of China is mainly affected by the Asian winter monsoon.