scholarly journals Resource Competition in Blockchain Networks under Cloud and Device Enabled Participation

IEEE Access ◽  
2022 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Yuxiang Liang ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Junfei Guo ◽  
Youcun Li
Keyword(s):  
Resource Competition

China and the Geopolitics of Rare Earths

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Kalantzakos
Keyword(s):  
Rare Earth ◽  
Rare Earths ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Trade Dispute ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Economic Statecraft ◽  
The Rare Earth

In 2010, because of a geopolitical incident between China and Japan, seventeen elements of the periodic table known as rare earths became notorious overnight. An “unofficial” and temporary embargo of rare-earth shipments to Japan alerted the world to China’s near monopoly position on the production and export of these indispensable elements for high-tech, defense, and renewable energy sources. A few months before the geopolitical confrontation, China had chosen to substantially cut export quotas of rare earths. Both events sent shockwaves across the markets, and rare-earth prices skyrocketed, prompting reactions from industrial nations and industry itself. The rare-earth crisis is not a simple trade dispute, however. It also raises questions about China’s use of economic statecraft and the impacts of growing resource competition. A detailed and nuanced examination of the rare-earth crisis provides a significant and distinctive case study of resource competition and its spill-over geopolitical effects. It sheds light on the formulation, deployment, longevity, effectiveness, and, perhaps, shortsightedness of policy responses by other industrial nations, while also providing an example of how China might choose to employ instruments of economic statecraft in its rise to superpower status.

scholarly journals Managing sustainability risks of bioenergy in four Nordic countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Chr. Hansen ◽  
Nicholas Clarke ◽  
Atle Wehn Hegnes
Keyword(s):  
Resource Competition ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Carbon Pools ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Government Planning ◽  
High Degree

Abstract Background Bioenergy plays a key role in the transition to a sustainable economy in Europe, but its own sustainability is being questioned. We study the experiences of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway, to find out whether the forest-based bioenergy chains developed in the four countries have led to unsustainable outcomes and how the countries manage the sustainability risks. Data were collected from a diversity of sources including interviews, statistical databases, the scientific literature, government planning documents and legislation. Results Sustainability risks of deforestation, degradation of forests, reduced carbon pools in forests, expensive biopower and heat, resource competition, and lack of acceptance at the local level are considered. The experience of the four countries shows that the sustainability risks can to a high degree be managed with voluntary measures without resorting to prescriptive measures. It is possible to add to the carbon pools of forests along with higher harvest volumes if the risks are well managed. There is, however, a marginal trade-off between harvest volume and carbon pools. Economic sustainability risks may be more challenging than ecological risks because the competitiveness order of renewable energy technologies has been reversed in the last decade. The risk of resource competition harming other sectors in the economy was found to be small and manageable but requires continuous monitoring. Local communities acting as bioenergy communities have been agents of change behind the most expansive bioenergy chains. A fear of non-local actors reaping the economic gains involved in bioenergy chains was found to be one of the risks to the trust and acceptance necessary for local communities to act as bioenergy communities. Conclusions The Nordic experience shows that it has been possible to manage the sustainability risks examined in this paper to an extent avoiding unsustainable outcomes. Sustainability risks have been managed by developing an institutional framework involving laws, regulations, standards and community commitments. Particularly on the local level, bioenergy chains should be developed with stakeholder involvement in development and use, in order to safeguard the legitimacy of bioenergy development and reconcile tensions between the global quest for a climate neutral economy and the local quest for an economically viable community.

scholarly journals Stability and Robustness of Unbalanced Genetic Toggle Switches in the Presence of Scarce Resources

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 271
Author(s):  
Chentao Yong ◽  
Andras Gyorgy
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Rational Design ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Robustness Analysis ◽  
System Level ◽  
Genetic Circuits ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Genetic Systems

While the vision of synthetic biology is to create complex genetic systems in a rational fashion, system-level behaviors are often perplexing due to the context-dependent dynamics of modules. One major source of context-dependence emerges due to the limited availability of shared resources, coupling the behavior of disconnected components. Motivated by the ubiquitous role of toggle switches in genetic circuits ranging from controlling cell fate differentiation to optimizing cellular performance, here we reveal how their fundamental dynamic properties are affected by competition for scarce resources. Combining a mechanistic model with nullcline-based stability analysis and potential landscape-based robustness analysis, we uncover not only the detrimental impacts of resource competition, but also how the unbalancedness of the switch further exacerbates them. While in general both of these factors undermine the performance of the switch (by pushing the dynamics toward monostability and increased sensitivity to noise), we also demonstrate that some of the unwanted effects can be alleviated by strategically optimized resource competition. Our results provide explicit guidelines for the context-aware rational design of toggle switches to mitigate our reliance on lengthy and expensive trial-and-error processes, and can be seamlessly integrated into the computer-aided synthesis of complex genetic systems.

scholarly journals Does Local Adaptation Impact on the Distribution of Competing Aedes Disease Vectors?

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Kelly L. Bennett ◽  
William Owen McMillan ◽  
Jose R. Loaiza
Keyword(s):  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
Disease Vectors ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Transplant Experiment ◽  
Reciprocal Transplant Experiment ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Ecological Resources ◽  
The Face ◽  
Arboviral Disease

Ae. (Stegomyia) aegypti L. and Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus Skuse mosquitoes are major arboviral disease vectors in human populations. Interspecific competition between these species shapes their distribution and hence the incidence of disease. While Ae. albopictus is considered a superior competitor for ecological resources and displaces its contender Ae. aegypti from most environments, the latter is able to persist with Ae. albopictus under particular environmental conditions, suggesting species occurrence cannot be explained by resource competition alone. The environment is an important determinant of species displacement or coexistence, although the factors underpinning its role remain little understood. In addition, it has been found that Ae. aegypti can be adapted to the environment across a local scale. Based on data from the Neotropical country of Panama, we present the hypothesis that local adaptation to the environment is critical in determining the persistence of Ae. aegypti in the face of its direct competitor Ae. albopictus. We show that although Ae. albopictus has displaced Ae. aegypti in some areas of Panama, both species coexist across many areas, including regions where Ae. aegypti appear to be locally adapted to dry climate conditions and less vegetated environments. Based on these findings, we describe a reciprocal transplant experiment to test our hypothesis, with findings expected to provide fundamental insights into the role of environmental variation in shaping the landscape of emerging arboviral disease.

scholarly journals Stable Coexistence in a Field-Calibrated Individual-Based Model of Mangrove Forest Dynamics Caused by Inter-Specific Crown Plasticity

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 955
Author(s):  
Uwe Grueters ◽  
Mohd Rodila Ibrahim ◽  
Hartmut Schmidt ◽  
Katharina Tiebel ◽  
Hendrik Horn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Dynamics ◽  
Mangrove Forest ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
Standing Stock ◽  
Mean Field ◽  
Individual Based Model ◽  
Local Competition ◽  
Competition Theory ◽  
Crown Plasticity ◽  
Classical Competition

(1,2) In this theoretical study, we apply MesoFON, a field-calibrated individual-based model of mangrove forest dynamics, and its Lotka–Volterra interpretations to address two questions: (a) Do the dynamics of two identical red mangrove species that compete for light resources and avoid inter-specific competition by lateral crown displacement follow the predictions of classical competition theory or resource competition theory? (b) Which mechanisms drive the dynamics in the presence of inter-specific crown plasticity when local competition is combined with global or with localized seed dispersal? (3) In qualitative support of classical competition theory, the two species can stably coexist within MesoFON. However, the total standing stock at equilibrium matched the carrying capacity of the single species. Therefore, a “non-overyielding” Lotka–Volterra model rather than the classic one approximated best the observed behavior. Mechanistically, inter-specific crown plasticity moved heterospecific trees apart and pushed conspecifics together. Despite local competition, the community exhibited mean-field dynamics with global dispersal. In comparison, localized dispersal slowed down the dynamics by diminishing the strength of intra-/inter-specific competition and their difference due to a restriction in the competitive race to the mean-field that prevails between conspecific clusters. (4) As the outcome in field-calibrated IBMs is mediated by the competition for resources, we conclude that classical competition mechanisms can override those of resource competition, and more species are likely to successfully coexist within communities.

scholarly journals Genotypic traits and tradeoffs of fast growth in silver birch, a pioneer tree

Oecologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha Mikola ◽  
Katariina Koikkalainen ◽  
Mira Rasehorn ◽  
Tarja Silfver ◽  
Ulla Paaso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resource Competition ◽  
Leaf Growth ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
Insect Herbivory ◽  
Fast Growth ◽  
Grass Cover ◽  
Soil N ◽  
Fast Growing ◽  
Slow Growing ◽  
Leaf N

AbstractFast-growing and slow-growing plant species are suggested to show integrated economics spectrums and the tradeoffs of fast growth are predicted to emerge as susceptibility to herbivory and resource competition. We tested if these predictions also hold for fast-growing and slow-growing genotypes within a silver birch, Betula pendula population. We exposed cloned saplings of 17 genotypes with slow, medium or fast height growth to reduced insect herbivory, using an insecticide, and to increasing resource competition, using naturally varying field plot grass cover. We measured shoot and root growth, ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungal production using ergosterol analysis and soil N transfer to leaves using 15N-labelled pulse of NH4+. We found that fast-growing genotypes grew on average 78% faster, produced 56% and 16% more leaf mass and ergosterol, and showed 78% higher leaf N uptake than slow-growing genotypes. The insecticide decreased leaf damage by 83% and increased shoot growth, leaf growth and leaf N uptake by 38%, 52% and 76%, without differences between the responses of fast-growing and slow-growing genotypes, whereas root mass decreased with increasing grass cover. Shoot and leaf growth of fast-growing genotypes decreased and EM fungal production of slow-growing genotypes increased with increasing grass cover. Our results suggest that fast growth is genotypically associated with higher allocation to EM fungi, better soil N capture and greater leaf production, and that the tradeoff of fast growth is sensitivity to competition, but not to insect herbivory. EM fungi may have a dual role: to support growth of fast-growing genotypes under low grass competition and to maintain growth of slow-growing genotypes under intensifying competition.

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