Double-edged Sword of Global Demand Heterogeneity on the Performance of Service Multinationals

Transnational education (TNE), responding to the growing global demand for education, plays a fundamental role in the current debate on the internationalisation and globalisation of higher education. Conducting a systematic literature review, this paper examines the characteristics of German transnational education, which has little in common with the American and British models, the reasons for its limited presence in the Gulf and its potential for having a stronger footprint. Since education for Germany is a public good, financial gain has never been a decisive factor for German universities to venture abroad. Whilst the Gulf Region is the largest importer of foreign education, German TNE is only represented by one university there, compared to the overwhelming number of US, UK and Australian higher education institutions. Although the Gulf Region is considered as a lucrative and appealing market for foreign education, lack of engagement of German TNE there could be interpreted through public policy-related reasons. Since Germany has already established its footprint in creating a unique brand of TNE, the paper recommends to build upon the country’s expertise in low-risk option for Germany to invest in the Gulf. For this to materialise, Germany must build awareness of its unique brand to stand out among the competition.

Download Full-text

New State Practices at a Time of System Disturbance and the Nasty Business of Protectionism - The Expectation for Global Demand Management

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.1647032 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Drache

Keyword(s):

Demand Management ◽

Global Demand

Download Full-text

Surviving the Wildlife Trade in Southeast Asia: Reforming the ‘Disposal’ of Confiscated Live Animals under CITES

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11020439 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 439

Author(s):

Shannon N. Rivera ◽

Andrew Knight ◽

Steven P. McCulloch

Keyword(s):

Southeast Asia ◽

Wildlife Trade ◽

Wildlife Crime ◽

Political Will ◽

Live Animal ◽

Wild Fauna ◽

Animal Management ◽

Demand Reduction ◽

Global Demand ◽

In Captivity

Increased focus on the illegal global wildlife trade has resulted in greater numbers of live animals confiscated by authorities, increasing the need to manage these animals responsibly. Most wildlife seizures take place in Southeast Asia, with global demand for live animals fuelling much of the trafficking. Guidelines for the ‘disposal’ of live specimens are provided by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), although individual Parties must implement provisions through national laws and regulations. ‘Disposal’ is the term used for the management of illegally traded wildlife upon confiscation. Confiscated live animals can be euthanised (i.e., killed), repatriated to their native country and released, or kept in captivity. This study investigates barriers to proper care and disposal of confiscated live animals in Southeast Asia, where roughly one quarter of the global multibillion dollar illegal wildlife trade takes place. Interviews were conducted with 18 professionals working within conservation, wildlife crime, and confiscated live animal management. Eight limitations to the proper care and disposal of confiscated wildlife were identified: (1) political will, (2) policy, (3) funding, (4) capacity, (5) expertise (6) attitudes and behaviours, (7) exploitation, and (8) corruption. Based on interviews, we propose seven key reforms to support the efficient and humane management of illegally traded wildlife for national authorities and CITES parties. These are wildlife seizure management, legislative support, enhanced political will, demand reduction, global participation, registry of rescue centres, and terminology change. This research highlights major barriers to the proper care and disposal of live confiscated animals and proposes key reforms to improve the conservation of threatened species and the welfare of millions of illegally traded animals.

Download Full-text

Deciphering Substrate-Specific Methane Yields of Perennial Herbaceous Wild Plant Species

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11030451 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 451

Author(s):

Moritz von Cossel ◽

Lorena Agra Pereira ◽

Iris Lewandowski

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Dry Matter ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Wild Plant ◽

Small Scale ◽

Social Ecological ◽

Wild Plant Species ◽

Global Demand ◽

Bioenergy Cropping Systems

The global demand for plant biomass to provide bioenergy and heat is continuously increasing because of a growing interest among many industrialized and developing countries towards climate sound and renewable energy supply. The exacerbation of land-use conflicts proliferates social-ecological demands on future bioenergy cropping systems. Perennial herbaceous wild plant mixtures (WPMs) represent an approach to providing social-ecologically more sustainably produced biogas substrate that has gained increasing public and political interest only in recent years. The focus of this study lies on three perennial wild plant species (WPS) that usually dominate the biomass yield performance of WPM cultivation. These WPS were compared with established biogas crops in terms of their substrate-specific methane yield (SMY) and lignocellulosic composition. The plant samples were investigated in a small-scale mesophilic discontinuous biogas batch test for determining the SMY. All WPS were found to have significantly lower SMY (241.5–248.5 lN kgVS−1) than maize (337.5 lN kgVS−1). This was attributed to higher contents of lignin (9.7–12.8% of dry matter) as well as lower contents of hemicellulose (9.9–11.5% of dry matter) in the WPS. Only minor, non-significant differences to cup plant and Virginia mallow were observed. Thus, when planning WPS as a diversification measure in biogas cropping systems, their lower SMY should be considered.

Download Full-text

Nano-Elicitation as an Effective and Emerging Strategy for In Vitro Production of Industrially Important Flavonoids

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11041694 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 1694

Author(s):

Amna Komal Khan ◽

Sidra Kousar ◽

Duangjai Tungmunnithum ◽

Christophe Hano ◽

Bilal Haider Abbasi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

World Market ◽

Culture Technique ◽

In Vitro Cultures ◽

Defense System ◽

In Vitro Production ◽

Metallic Oxide ◽

Global Demand ◽

Over Exploitation ◽

Vitro Production

Flavonoids represent a popular class of industrially important bioactive compounds. They possess valuable health-benefiting and disease preventing properties, and therefore they are an important component of the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetical and medicinal industries. Moreover, flavonoids possess significant antiallergic, antihepatotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor, antiviral, and antibacterial as well as cardio-protective activities. Due to these properties, there is a rise in global demand for flavonoids, forming a significant part of the world market. However, obtaining flavonoids directly from plants has some limitations, such as low quantity, poor extraction, over-exploitation, time consuming process and loss of flora. Henceforth, there is a shift towards the in vitro production of flavonoids using the plant tissue culture technique to achieve better yields in less time. In order to achieve the productivity of flavonoids at an industrially competitive level, elicitation is a useful tool. The elicitation of in vitro cultures induces stressful conditions to plants, activates the plant defense system and enhances the accumulation of secondary metabolites in higher quantities. In this regard, nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as novel and effective elicitors for enhancing the in vitro production of industrially important flavonoids. Different classes of NPs, including metallic NPs (silver and copper), metallic oxide NPs (copper oxide, iron oxide, zinc oxide, silicon dioxide) and carbon nanotubes, are widely reported as nano-elicitors of flavonoids discussed herein. Lastly, the mechanisms of NPs as well as knowledge gaps in the area of the nano-elicitation of flavonoids have been highlighted in this review.

Download Full-text

Land Grabbing and the Perplexities of Territorial Sovereignty

Political Theory ◽

10.1177/00905917211008591 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 009059172110085

Author(s):

Anna Jurkevics

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Democratic Participation ◽

Private Land ◽

Land Grabbing ◽

Land Dispossession ◽

Territorial Sovereignty ◽

Global Demand ◽

Land Grabs ◽

Cast Doubt ◽

Philosophical Framework

The recent phenomenon of land grabbing—that is, the large-scale acquisition of private land rights by foreign investors—is an effect of increasing global demand for farmland, resources, and development opportunities. In 2008–2010 alone, land grabs covered approximately 56 million hectares of land, dispossessing and displacing inhabitants. This article proposes a philosophical framework for evaluating land grabbing as a practice of territorial alienation, whereby the private purchase of land can, under certain conditions, lead to a de facto alienation of territorial sovereignty. If land grabs alienate territorial sovereignty, it follows that inhabitants can claim a violation of the people’s right to “permanent sovereignty over natural resources.” However, because sovereignty is entangled in the historical and contemporary causes of land dispossession, I cast doubt on this strategy. Territorially sovereign regimes often undermine democratic land governance by obstructing participation in activities such as zoning, land use, property regulation, and environmental stewardship. These activities, which I theorize as practices of “world-building,” are key to democracy because they give occupants a say in the shape of their common home. The perplexities of sovereignty in matters of land governance suggest that establishing democratic participation in rule over land requires fracturing sovereignty.

Download Full-text

A Systematic Review on the Application of Machine Learning in Exploiting Mineralogical Data in Mining and Mineral Industry

Minerals ◽

10.3390/min11080816 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 816

Author(s):

Mohammad Jooshaki ◽

Alona Nad ◽

Simon Michaux

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Relevant Literature ◽

Geological Structure ◽

Subject Area ◽

Ore Deposits ◽

Machine Learning Algorithms ◽

Global Demand ◽

Ore Grade

Machine learning is a subcategory of artificial intelligence, which aims to make computers capable of solving complex problems without being explicitly programmed. Availability of large datasets, development of effective algorithms, and access to the powerful computers have resulted in the unprecedented success of machine learning in recent years. This powerful tool has been employed in a plethora of science and engineering domains including mining and minerals industry. Considering the ever-increasing global demand for raw materials, complexities of the geological structure of ore deposits, and decreasing ore grade, high-quality and extensive mineralogical information is required. Comprehensive analyses of such invaluable information call for advanced and powerful techniques including machine learning. This paper presents a systematic review of the efforts that have been dedicated to the development of machine learning-based solutions for better utilizing mineralogical data in mining and mineral studies. To that end, we investigate the main reasons behind the superiority of machine learning in the relevant literature, machine learning algorithms that have been deployed, input data, concerned outputs, as well as the general trends in the subject area.

Download Full-text

Resources, Production Scales and Time Required for Producing RNA Vaccines for the Global Pandemic Demand

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines9010003 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 3

Author(s):

Zoltán Kis ◽

Cleo Kontoravdi ◽

Robin Shattock ◽

Nilay Shah

Keyword(s):

Production Process ◽

Messenger Rna ◽

Vaccination Campaign ◽

Vaccine Dose ◽

Economic Feasibility ◽

Small Scale ◽

Production Scale ◽

Working Volume ◽

Global Demand ◽

The Impact

To overcome pandemics, such as COVID-19, vaccines are urgently needed at very high volumes. Here we assess the techno-economic feasibility of producing RNA vaccines for the demand associated with a global vaccination campaign. Production process performance is assessed for three messenger RNA (mRNA) and one self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) vaccines, all currently under clinical development, as well as for a hypothetical next-generation saRNA vaccine. The impact of key process design and operation uncertainties on the performance of the production process was assessed. The RNA vaccine drug substance (DS) production rates, volumes and costs are mostly impacted by the RNA amount per vaccine dose and to a lesser extent by the scale and titre in the production process. The resources, production scale and speed required to meet global demand vary substantially in function of the RNA amount per dose. For lower dose saRNA vaccines, global demand can be met using a production process at a scale of below 10 L bioreactor working volume. Consequently, these small-scale processes require a low amount of resources to set up and operate. RNA DS production can be faster than fill-to-finish into multidose vials; hence the latter may constitute a bottleneck.

Download Full-text