Life Cycle and Transmission of Cyclospora cayetanensis: Knowns and Unknowns

Although infections with Cyclospora cayetanensis are prevalent worldwide, many aspects of this parasite’s life cycle and transmission remain unknown. Humans are the only known hosts of this parasite. Existing information on its endogenous development has been derived from histological examination of only a few biopsy specimens. Its asexual and sexual stages occur in biliary-intestinal epithelium. In histological sections, its stages are less than 10 μm, making definitive identification difficult. Asexual (schizonts) and sexual (gamonts) are located in epithelial cells. Male microgamonts have two flagella; female macrogametes contain wall-forming bodies. Oocysts are excreted in feces unsporulated. Sporulation occurs in the environment, but there are many unanswered questions concerning dissemination and survival of C. cayetanensis oocysts. Biologically and phylogenetically, C. cayetanensis closely resembles Eimeria spp. that parastize chickens; among them, E. acervulina most closely resembles C. cayetanensis in size. Here, we review known and unknown aspects of its life cycle and transmission and discuss the appropriateness of surrogates best capable of hastening progress in understanding its biology and developing mitigating strategies.

Bridging the Digital Divide for Rural Older Adults by Family Intergenerational Learning: A Classroom Case in a Rural Primary School in China

Rural older adults often feel disconnected from the ever-expanding digital world. To bridge the digital divide, researchers have investigated the effectiveness of formal education and training offered by various social institutions. However, existing research highlights a critical shortcoming in these approaches: a lack of attention paid to rural older adults’ individual needs and interests. Based on the theories of post-metaphorical culture, endogenous development, home-school cooperation, and technology adoption and acceptance, this study implements a family intergenerational learning (FIL) project. FIL characterizes learning between grandparents and grandchildren within the household, suggesting a more practical and individualized strategy to help rural older adults gain digital literacy. By conducting a three-month FIL Project in a rural primary school class in China, the study employs a qualitative method to analyze learning records and interviews from 10 sets of participating grandparents and grandchildren. The analysis renders two critical findings on the effectiveness of the FIL Project for rural older adults. First, FIL can help rural older adults adapt into the digital world by (1) gaining knowledge about digital society, (2) improving their digital skills, (3) changing their lifestyles, and (4) understanding the integration between technology and society. Second, among grandchildren, FIL can cultivate an awareness of lifelong learning and their moral obligations to their grandparents. By illustrating this specific case, this study puts forward a new approach to help the older adults overcome the digital divide in rural areas.

Ethnic Identity, Discrimination and the Shaping of Remittance Culture in Ghana

This article examines birth-based structures and endogenous practices in the migration patterns of two ethnic groups in southern Ghana. The sampled ethnic groups for this study are the Akuapems from the Akan ethnic group located in the Akuapem North district and the Ada/Dangme’s from the Ga-Adangme ethnic group located in the Shai-Osudoku District and the Ningo-Prampram District (formally known as Dangme West District). The article discusses how ethnic identity influences remittance patterns and the utilization of sampled migrants’ home districts. Data from a questionnaire survey, interviews, and focus group meetings informed the study. The study results indicate a strong relationship between patterns, practices, and utilization of remittances and the respective norms and social values embedded within the migrants’ ethnic identity. The research also shows that migrants from ethnic groups with strong internal cohesion and less assimilation remit more than those from more ethnically heterogeneous groups. The study found that migrants from matrilineal ethnicity remit more than those of the patrilineal group. Ethnic values also shape the type of investments that internal migrants and their families may pursue. The research contributes to the debate on agency and endogenous development within birth-based structured societies. It also advances the discourse on birth-based identities, marginalization, and informal poverty reductions mechanisms and strategies.

Research on Guilin Smart Cultural Tourism Service Scenario based on Digital Twin Technology

In recent years, with the emergence of new technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things, big data, and artificial intelligence, the country has deeply promoted the application of science and technology in the cultural and tourism industries, targeting smart cultural tourism, digital cultural industries, online and offline integrated development, and scenic spots. Multiple service scenarios such as smart supervision put forward new requirements. The purpose is to use digital twin technology to build a digital, online, and intelligent cultural tourism industry chain, optimize Guilin tourism service processes, improve service efficiency, and make full use of the city's smart cultural tourism development to promote the improvement of the city's image and promote Guilin The new form of global tourism forms the city's endogenous development capabilities, and provides theoretical and practical guidance for the construction of smart cultural tourism in other cities. By analyzing the current status of smart cultural tourism and application requirements, it discusses the design and construction of Guilin smart cultural tourism service scenarios based on digital twin technology, and how to strengthen the realization of future-oriented smart interactive scenarios in the innovation of service models.

Factors of Socio-Economic Development of Partially Recognized and Unrecognized Republics of the Caucasus

Particular and general factors determine the dynamics and trends of endogenous development of three unrecognized and partially recognized republics of the Caucasus the Republic of South Ossetia (RSO), Abkhazia, and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The article identifies critical factors and assesses prospects for endogenous socio-economic development of an unrecognized and partially recognized Republics of the Caucasus. It uses comparative and statistical methods, namely, one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Kraskel-Wallis Criterion. A database developed for this study uses a set of indicators of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2007 to 2019 as a formalized universal and balanced system of global determinants. We found that differences in the achieved UN SDGs indicators can be accounted for by the variety of each state's initially socio-economic situation (the effect of a differentiated base). At the same time, the research shows that the dynamics of the development of the Caucasian republics are similar, which determines a commonality of trends of their future (while maintaining current conditions and circumstances). The study results expand our understanding of the development of unrecognized and partially recognized states. It shows that one has to consider this propensity of the Caucasian states to self-development when justifying measures for improving their socioeconomic situation and increasing the effectiveness of investment programs implemented jointly with the Russian Federation to promote the socio-economic development of the RSO and the Republic of Abkhazia.

Optimization of Ice and Snow Sports Industry Chain Structure Based on Sensor Network Communication and Artificial Intelligence

As a new tourism industry model, the ice and snow sports tourism industry has played an increasingly important role in the development of China’s entire tourism industry. This paper analyzes the structural optimization of the ice and snow sports industry chain based on sensor network communication and artificial intelligence and aims to fully apply sensor network communication and artificial intelligence technology to the development of the ice and snow sports industry. Let us look for an optimized method to promote the development of the ice and snow sports industry chain structure. This paper conducts a research on the optimization of the ice and snow sports industry chain structure based on sensor network communication and artificial intelligence. In the method part, this article explains the architecture of sensor nodes and networks, uses the long-term monitoring of wireless sensor networks and the flexibility of the data acquisition structure, combined with the superiority of artificial intelligence in information processing and analysis, to obtain and analyze the experimental data of this research, and introduces the specific content of artificial intelligence and the ice and snow sports industry. In the algorithm, the grey relational analysis method is introduced. In the part of the experimental results, experiments were carried out on the ice and snow city resources, competitive advantages, the quarterly average value of the ice and snow sports enterprise prosperity index, ice and snow sports venues, GDP, and the speed comparison and structure of the development of the sports industry, and simulation experiments were carried out from the perspective of sensors. On the whole, the development curve of China’s ice and snow sports industry basically conforms to the economic development curve. With the slowdown of GDP growth rate, the growth rate of the sports industry slowed down simultaneously. However, despite the continued decline in economic growth, the sports industry has ushered in a peak of development, with a growth rate of 89.45%, a year-on-year increase of 69.3 percentage points. This phenomenon shows that the sports industry has sufficient endogenous development momentum and huge development potential. It is an important driving force and emerging growth point of the economic society and modern services. It has a comprehensive driving role in stimulating urban consumption, promoting economic transformation and upgrading, and driving the development of the service industry.

External migration and endogenous development nexus: challenges for the sustainable macroeconomic policy

El estudio identifica los vínculos entre la migración y el desarrollo endógeno, además de presentar el análisis de las áreas afectadas por los procesos migratorios, incluido el mercado laboral, la inversión, el comercio minorista y la actividad empresarial. Los modelos económicos y matemáticos del impacto de la migración en el desarrollo social (empleo, salarios, ingresos, índice de precios, gastos de los hogares) y económico (inversión extranjera, valor agregado, actividad económica extranjera, productividad laboral) se proponen y prueban con el ejemplo de las regiones occidentales de Ucrania. El estudio confirma la hipótesis de que la intensificación de la migración externa de la población tiene consecuencias tanto negativas como positivas para el desarrollo social y económico endógeno.Las medidas de la política estatal para minimizar riesgos y amenazas, y reforzar la influencia positiva de la migración en el desarrollo social y económico de las regiones de Ucrania.

Higher Education, Technological Innovation, and Regional Sustainable Development: Insights from a VAR Model

Sustainable development has increasingly become a primary concern of governments in the stage of high-quality economic development. Taking as an example Guangdong Province, China, where development and polarization coexist, this study uses a Vector Autoregressive(VAR) model to examine the relationship between higher education, technological innovation, and economic growth, and then uses the Coupling Coordination (CC) model to evaluate the developing coordination of subsystems where the above three elements are located; furthermore, it summarizes the mechanisms and corresponding paths of higher education on the quantity and quality of economic growth and illustrates the interactive relationships, the dynamic mechanisms, and the influencing factors. The results show that there is a dynamic interaction mechanism between higher education, technological innovation, and regional economy. The effect of this mechanism is enhanced in developed areas and with an obvious circle cumulative effect, while partly inhibited in undeveloped areas and with less or no circle cumulative effect. Therefore, on the path towards high-quality development, endogenous development models should be formulated and strengthened by developing higher education and constructing an innovation system, especially in the undeveloped areas. Higher education should be more in the regional development framework and targeted at the interaction and synergy in the regional socioeconomic system.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN POLAND IN THE CONTEXT OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: CONCLUSIONS FOR UKRAINE

In the short term, the measures of the Polish government in the process of European integration proved to be ineffective and did not allow to achieve the goal set by 2002: to strengthen the competitiveness of pharmaceutical companies. The implementation of EU standards and regulations, the adoption of the law on forms of support for innovation have created the basis for the government (co-financed by EU funds) to support research and development and innovation projects and launch the sectoral program InnoNeuroPharm, which, together with tax incentives for research and development and other activities politicians, gave positive impetus to business. With the accession to the EU, Polish pharmaceutical manufacturers have improved their economic results, but still lag far behind German manufacturers, in terms of both technological level and innovation activity, as well as in terms of productivity and wages. The development of the industry is hampered by a number of obstacles: lack of a clear strategy and lack of coordination between concerned authorities; lack of incentives to attract investment; human factor and “industrial corruption”. In the process of European integration, Poland quickly managed to introduce top-down formal institutions, but the transformation of informal institutions continues today. One of the factors that caused falling behind and weak competitiveness of Ukrainian medicines is that European integration processes are aimed primarily at harmonizing the legislative and regulatory framework for pharmaceuticals production, rather than building the potential for endogenous development of the industry. It is noted that only the introduction of a purposeful comprehensive state policy of building "technological champions" in pharmaceuticals based on endogenous innovations can “convert” European integration processes into competitive Ukrainian products and bring them to European markets. It is substantiated that without mental and value changes, transformation of informal institutions and improvement of framework conditions for innovations, the country's benefits from European integration for the development of Ukrainian pharmaceuticals will be limited and unable to reduce the technological and economic gap with European industry leaders.