scholarly journals On Prices of Privacy Coins and Bitcoin

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 361
Author(s):  
Olli-Pekka Hilmola

Since the inauguration of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has been under pressure from competing tokens. As Bitcoin is a public open ledger blockchain coin, it has its weaknesses in privacy and anonymity. In the recent decade numerous coins have been initiated as privacy coins, which try to tackle these weaknesses. This research compares mostly mature privacy coins to Bitcoin, and comparison is made from a price perspective. It seems that Bitcoin is leading privacy coins in price terms, and correlation is typically high and positive. From the earlier crypto market peak of 2017–18, only a very small number of coins are showing positive returns in 2021. It is typical that many privacy coins have lost substantial amounts of their value (ranging 80–90%) or that they do not exist anymore at all. Only Horizen and Monero have shown long-term sustainability in their value; however, their price changes follow that of Bitcoin very closely. The role of privacy coins in the future remains as an open issue.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 460-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiwen Chen

Purpose Bottlenecked by rural underdevelopment, China’s overall development is bound to be inadequate and unbalanced. Through a brief retrospect of the reform directed against the “equalitarianism (egalitarianism)” in China’s rural areas, as well as the Chinese Government’s conceptual transformation and systemic construction and improvement thereof, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the panoramic significance of rural reform; the necessity, priority, and long-term nature of the current rural development; and the important role of public policy in doing so. It also looks ahead to consider the prospects for future rural reform. Design/methodology/approach This paper first reviews the rural reforms that were carried out in 1978. Second, it introduces the government’s conceptual change regarding rural reform and the establishment and improvement of the system that underlies it. Finally, the future of rural reform is envisaged. Findings The initial rural reforms brought extensive and profound changes to China’s rural areas. The experience of rural reform has been referred to and escalated by other fields of study. Hence, rural reforms have become something of global significance. Moreover, since the government can undertake reforms well beyond the reach of farmers, its views must be modified in a timely manner, and only then may it reasonably construct and improve the system pertaining to the “three rural issues (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers).” Originality/value This paper reviews the rural reforms carried out in 1978. It introduces the government’s change of concept with respect to rural reforms and the establishment and improvement of the system based on the “three rural issues,” thus looking forward to the future of rural reforms. The findings of this paper are of significance to the formulation of future agricultural policies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Cugini ◽  
Narayanan Ramasubbu ◽  
Vincent K. Tsiagbe ◽  
Daniel H. Fine

The significance of microbiology and immunology with regard to caries and periodontal disease gained substantial clinical or research consideration in the mid 1960's. This enhanced emphasis related to several simple but elegant experiments illustrating the relevance of bacteria to oral infections. Since that point, the understanding of oral diseases has become increasingly sophisticated and many of the original hypotheses related to disease causality have either been abandoned or amplified. The COVID pandemic has reminded us of the importance of history relative to infectious diseases and in the words of Churchill “those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” This review is designed to present an overview of broad general directions of research over the last 60 years in oral microbiology and immunology, reviewing significant contributions, indicating emerging foci of interest, and proposing future directions based on technical advances and new understandings. Our goal is to review this rich history (standard microbiology and immunology) and point to potential directions in the future (omics) that can lead to a better understanding of disease. Over the years, research scientists have moved from a position of downplaying the role of bacteria in oral disease to one implicating bacteria as true pathogens that cause disease. More recently it has been proposed that bacteria form the ecological first line of defense against “foreign” invaders and also serve to train the immune system as an acquired host defensive stimulus. While early immunological research was focused on immunological exposure as a modulator of disease, the “hygiene hypothesis,” and now the “old friends hypothesis” suggest that the immune response could be trained by bacteria for long-term health. Advanced “omics” technologies are currently being used to address changes that occur in the host and the microbiome in oral disease. The “omics” methodologies have shaped the detection of quantifiable biomarkers to define human physiology and pathologies. In summary, this review will emphasize the role that commensals and pathobionts play in their interaction with the immune status of the host, with a prediction that current “omic” technologies will allow researchers to better understand disease in the future.


Author(s):  
Ida Dzifa Dey ◽  
David Isenberg

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune rheumatic disease with varied presentation and a disease course characterized by remission and flares. Over the last 50 years the prognosis of SLE has improved considerably. The introductions of corticosteroids and later of cytotoxic drugs, dialysis, and renal transplantation were the major contributors to this improvement. Nevertheless, the treatment and general management of lupus continues to present a challenge. While lupus may, for some patients, represent a relatively mild set of problems, many others require large doses of immunosuppressive drugs, which carry long-term concerns about side effects. New immunotherapeutic drugs, with actions more closely targeted to the immune cells and molecules involved in the pathogenesis of SLE, are being introduced and the future looks promising. The role of early atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease as a cause of death in patients with SLE is increasingly recognized and will present further challenges in the future.


Author(s):  
Ida Dzifa Dey ◽  
David Isenberg

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune rheumatic disease with varied presentation and a disease course characterized by remission and flares. Over the last 50 years the prognosis of SLE has improved considerably. The introductions of corticosteroids and later of cytotoxic drugs, dialysis, and renal transplantation were the major contributors to this improvement. Nevertheless, the treatment and general management of lupus continues to present a challenge. While lupus may, for some patients, represent a relatively mild set of problems, many others require large doses of immunosuppressive drugs, which carry long-term concerns about side effects. New immunotherapeutic drugs, with actions more closely targeted to the immune cells and molecules involved in the pathogenesis of SLE, are being introduced and the future looks promising. The role of early atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease as a cause of death in patients with SLE is increasingly recognized and will present further challenges in the future.


2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia Gawlik ◽  
Maciej Kaliski ◽  
Jacek Kamiński ◽  
Andrzej P. Sikora ◽  
Adam Szurlej

AbstractThis paper reviews the coal policy of Poland. It analyzes the forecasts of production and consumption of hard coal, the size of exports and imports and its importance for the energy sector on the basis of strategic documents. The main aim of the article is to show the role of hard coal in the fuel - energy balance of Poland until 2050. The adoption of appropriate assumptions for each scenario, including the maximum supply of hard coal from domestic mines, coal price curves, CO2emission allowances and several calculations performed allowed to obtain certain results on the basis of which the future role of hard coal was determined.


Silva Fennica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Melin ◽  
Tiina Ylioja ◽  
Leena Aarnio ◽  
Katri Hamunen ◽  
Seppo Nevalainen ◽  
...  

Bark beetles are amongst the most aggressive pest agents of coniferous forests. Due to this, many boreal countries have designated laws aiming to lower the risk of bark beetle epidemics. Finland’s forest legislation has pre-emptive measures targeted against bark beetles, and for Scots pine ( L.), the law concerns pine shoot beetles ( spp.). This study used data collected around 25 piles of Scots pine roundwood that were harvested in the winter but left in the forest until the following November. Thus, the pine shoot beetles were able to use the piles for breeding. We assessed the number of emerged insects from the piles and the cascading damage they caused in the surrounding forests. All roundwood piles, regardless of their volume, were used by the beetles for breeding. Highest densities of beetle exit holes were found from the parts of the log with thick and intact bark. If the bark of the log was damaged by the harvester head, the number of beetles decreased significantly. Depending on the volume of the roundwood pile, the cascading damage (fallen shoots) was noticeable up to ca. 40–60 m from the roundwood pile. Storing of piles smaller than 50 m did not cause excess damage. The number of fallen shoots per tree was generally below the known thresholds for when growth losses can occur. However, the study was conducted in mature forests, and it can be assumed that the recorded damage levels would severely affect the growth of young pines, raising the question of where to store the roundwood. As with other bark beetles, the role of beetles as damage agents may change in the future, but based on this as well as past studies, the species can be viewed as a notable damage agents only around long-term wood storage sites in the current northern conditions.Pinus sylvestrisTomicus3Tomicus


Author(s):  
Ahmad Asrin

The aims of this study to find out anti-corruption education urgence for state Islamic religious teachers. This study use Qualitative Research Methods. The result show that Corruption is seen as an extra ordinary crime, therefore it requires extraordinary efforts to eradicate it. Efforts to eradicate corruption which consists of two major parts, namely prosecution and prevention will never be optimally successful if only carried out by the government without involving public participation. Therefore it is not an exaggeration if students - as an important part of society who are the inheritors of the future - are expected to be actively involved in efforts to eradicate corruption in Indonesia. Of course, these efforts are still a discourse and the benefits will not be felt in the short term, but in the long term this discourse is believed to be fruitful. If higher education starts, especially PTKIN, it will inspire others, and one day it comes to efforts to draft a legal product with anti-corruption nuances that can be initiated in PTKIN, such as the Bill, Ranperda and the like. Hopefully PTKIN can play a more significant role in the future. Thus, corruption can be minimized and even eliminated from this beloved country, including through optimizing the role of PTKIN.


Author(s):  
James R. Clapper

This article discusses the intelligence-reform movement since the 9/11 attack. It particularly places emphasis on Defense Intelligence reforms. The article also explores the role of the Defense Intelligence in shaping and implementing law and executive guidance and policy. It also discusses how long-term, trusted relationships between key intelligence officials in place during 2007 to 2008 were a critical factor in events moving successfully through a number of contentious policy issues. The article ends with some views on the future directions of research in this field in order to bring the intelligence-reform movement to fruition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1904) ◽  
pp. 20182896 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Cantalapiedra ◽  
T. Aze ◽  
M. W. Cadotte ◽  
G. V. Dalla Riva ◽  
D. Huang ◽  
...  

Alternative prioritization strategies have been proposed to safeguard biodiversity over macroevolutionary time scales. The first prioritizes the most distantly related species—maximizing phylogenetic diversity (PD)—in the hopes of capturing at least some lineages that will successfully diversify into the future. The second prioritizes lineages that are currently speciating, in the hopes that successful lineages will continue to generate species into the future. These contrasting schemes also map onto contrasting predictions about the role of slow diversifiers in the production of biodiversity over palaeontological time scales. We consider the performance of the two schemes across 10 dated species-level palaeo-phylogenetic trees ranging from Foraminifera to dinosaurs. We find that prioritizing PD for conservation generally led to fewer subsequent lineages, while prioritizing diversifiers led to modestly more subsequent diversity, compared with random sets of lineages. Importantly for conservation, the tree shape when decisions are made cannot predict which scheme will be most successful. These patterns are inconsistent with the notion that long-lived lineages are the source of new species. While there may be sound reasons for prioritizing PD for conservation, long-term species production might not be one of them.


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