The role of environmental regulation, industrial upgrading and resource allocation on foreign direct investment: Evidence from 276 Chinese cities

Environmental pollution is becoming more and more prevalent in China, accompanied by the excessive expansion of the country's foreign direct investment in the scale of resource-based industries. This article uses the panel data of 276 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2016 to estimate the impact of environmental regulation on foreign direct investment by employing the Spatial Durbin model. The empirical results show that: firstly, environmental regulation, and foreign direct investment have an obvious spatial correlation. Secondly, environmental regulation significantly inhibits foreign direct investment and has significant negative space spillover. Thirdly, non-eastern cities' environmental regulation has significantly greater inhibitory effects on foreign direct investment than eastern cities, and the key cities' environmental regulation has greater inhibitory effects than ordinary cities. Finally, from the perspective of industrial upgrading and resource configuration, environmental regulation has significantly promoted foreign direct investment and have significant negative space spillovers. Therefore, the reasonable use of environmental regulatory measures through industrial upgrading and resource configuration to attract clean, capital-intensive and technology-intensive enterprises and to achieve the effect of "decontamination and clean" for foreign-funded enterprises is critical.

Burundi: International Pressure and Counter-Sanctional Maneuvering of Ruling Elites

Using the example of one of the poorest and economically most vulnerable states in the world – the Republic of Burundi – the article examines the impact of international sanctions on foreign and domestic policy as well as upon the economic situation in sovereign states of African. The author demonstrates that, despite the severe destructive consequences of the economic and political sanctions of external players, the use of restrictive regimes against “recalcitrant” actors of interstate relations does not automatically lead to a change in their line of behaviour or to the downfall of the ruling regimes. As the example of Burundi shows, even in the conditions of the poorest country in the world, well-thought-out political maneuvering and reasonable use of available resources can allow the targeted state and its elites to remain in power indefinitely and to maintain the political status quo.

Reduced Susceptibility and Increased Resistance of Bacteria against Disinfectants: A Systematic Review

Disinfectants are used to reduce the concentration of pathogenic microorganisms to a safe level and help to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases. However, bacteria have a tremendous ability to respond to chemical stress caused by biocides, where overuse and improper use of disinfectants can be reflected in a reduced susceptibility of microorganisms. This review aims to describe whether mutations and thus decreased susceptibility to disinfectants occur in bacteria during disinfectant exposure. A systematic literature review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted with the databases PubMed, Science Direct and Web of Science. For the final analysis, 28 sources that remained of interest were included. Articles describing reduced susceptibility or the resistance of bacteria against seven different disinfectants were identified. The important deviation of the minimum inhibitory concentration was observed in multiple studies for disinfectants based on triclosan and chlorhexidine. A reduced susceptibility to disinfectants and potentially related problems with antibiotic resistance in clinically important bacterial strains are increasing. Since the use of disinfectants in the community is rising, it is clear that reasonable use of available and effective disinfectants is needed. It is necessary to develop and adopt strategies to control disinfectant resistance.

Breakdown Characteristics of Long Air Gap at Different Frequency Based on Series Resonance

In today’s rapid economic development, with the development of science and technology, higher requirements have been put forward in the economic operation of the system. This requires various departments to make more reasonable use of existing energy and equipment, and to ensure quality. Meet all aspects of supply with more energy-saving and more economical operation methods. Therefore, more and more attention has been paid to the research on the method of predicting the breakdown voltage of the air gap. Although domestic and foreign scholars have used power frequency test transformers to carry out a large number of long air gap experimental researches, the research on the breakdown voltage of long air gaps based on the principle of vector machines is still blank. In this paper, a vector machine test device is used to study the breakdown discharge characteristics of a long air gap at two frequencies of 229Hz and 68Hz. Comparing the test phenomena at different frequencies, it is found that the initial discharge voltage of the streamer corona is lower when the frequency is 229Hz, and the discharge phenomenon before breakdown is more intense, and the quality factor will be significantly reduced due to the violent discharge. At the same time, under the same test conditions, the breakdown voltage at 229Hz is lower than that at 68Hz, and as the air gap increases, the difference between the two is greater. The experimental results show that the breakdown voltage of the long air gap based on the vector machine is different when the frequency is different, and the safety distance of the field withstand voltage test should be evaluated according to the experimental data under the vector machine condition to ensure the safety of the test.

The role of environmental regulation, industrial upgrading and resource allocation on foreign direct investment: Evidence from 276 Chinese cities

Environmental pollution is becoming more and more prevalent in China, accompanied by the excessive expansion of the country's foreign direct investment in the scale of resource-based industries. This article uses the panel data of 276 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2016 to estimate the impact of environmental regulation on foreign direct investment by employing the Spatial Durbin model. The empirical results show that: firstly, environmental regulation, and foreign direct investment have an obvious spatial correlation. Secondly, environmental regulation significantly inhibits foreign direct investment and has significant negative space spillover. Thirdly, non-eastern cities' environmental regulation has significantly greater inhibitory effects on foreign direct investment than eastern cities, and the key cities' environmental regulation has greater inhibitory effects than ordinary cities. Finally, from the perspective of industrial upgrading and resource configuration, environmental regulation has significantly promoted foreign direct investment and have significant negative space spillovers. Therefore, the reasonable use of environmental regulatory measures through industrial upgrading and resource configuration to attract clean, capital-intensive and technology-intensive enterprises and to achieve the effect of "decontamination and clean" for foreign-funded enterprises is critical.

Correlation of terms «orphan work» and «public domain work» in the modern copyright law

Keywords: orphan work, copyright, work digitization, public domain, propertyrights of the author, term of copyright The authors insist on the need todifferentiate the terms «orphan work» and «public domain work». It is connected withthe necessity to follow reasonable balance between the property interest of the authoror his successors and the public interest in reasonable use of the work in order to improvethe current legal field.It is substantiated that the existing copyright system, which provides to pay royaltyfor every use of the work for its author for 70 years or more, conflicts with theneeds of society in modern digital age. It is necessary to get permission from the copyrightholder to digitize a work to make it available. For orphan works it is difficult.The traditional copyright system should provide an exception for orphan works. It isformulated that permission to use such works must be granted by a specially authorizedstate body if there is any evidence that the user has taken all possible measuresto find the copyright holder, but has not been successful.Analysis of the content of theoretical and legal definitions of the terms «orphanwork» and «public domain work» shows that the presence or absence of ongoing protectionof property rights of the author is a key factor in the difference. Such rightsare still valid for orphan works, and therefore the permission of the right holder touse such a work is required. Meanwhile, the «public domain work» includes workswhich the term of copyright has expired. Therefore, the work can be used without permission.So, the approach that an orphan work becomes public domain is incorrect.On a basis of analysis of legislation conclusions is drawn that it is inexpedient touse too voluminous definition of the term «orphan work». It is argued that the systemof issuing permits for use of orphan works by the state bodies at request of a potentialuser must be defined in legislation.

Water Allocation and the Sustainability of Dairying in the Upper Waitaki River Basin

<p>Water as a resource management issue is gaining prominence in New Zealand, both in terms of quality and quantity. In the Waitaki this became critical in 2003 when several proposed development schemes exposed the inadequacies of the RMA and highlighted the need for a catchment wide plan. Legislation was promulgated and a Regional Plan developed to address the issues of efficient allocation. This thesis aimed to question the efficiency of water allocation within the recent legislation and to examine the sustainability of dairying in this area with regard to cumulative effects to the hydrological system. It was found the Plan has failed to achieve its stated aims. Dairying in the upper Waitaki is currently increasing and applications for resource consent are being heard under legislation that is not backed by the science required within its policies. Fieldwork was undertaken to explore some of the science required under the Regional Plan to enable a 'reasonable use' test to be made. The aim was to assess the response of soils in the upper Waitaki to intensive irrigation. This revealed that the potential impacts of intensive irrigation in this area are significant and highlighted the need for further research. This is a study of how poor policy and planning, based on a lack of robust science has resulted in the inefficient allocation of water. This has implications for long-term sustainable resource use.</p>

Water Allocation and the Sustainability of Dairying in the Upper Waitaki River Basin

<p>Water as a resource management issue is gaining prominence in New Zealand, both in terms of quality and quantity. In the Waitaki this became critical in 2003 when several proposed development schemes exposed the inadequacies of the RMA and highlighted the need for a catchment wide plan. Legislation was promulgated and a Regional Plan developed to address the issues of efficient allocation. This thesis aimed to question the efficiency of water allocation within the recent legislation and to examine the sustainability of dairying in this area with regard to cumulative effects to the hydrological system. It was found the Plan has failed to achieve its stated aims. Dairying in the upper Waitaki is currently increasing and applications for resource consent are being heard under legislation that is not backed by the science required within its policies. Fieldwork was undertaken to explore some of the science required under the Regional Plan to enable a 'reasonable use' test to be made. The aim was to assess the response of soils in the upper Waitaki to intensive irrigation. This revealed that the potential impacts of intensive irrigation in this area are significant and highlighted the need for further research. This is a study of how poor policy and planning, based on a lack of robust science has resulted in the inefficient allocation of water. This has implications for long-term sustainable resource use.</p>

Numerical Investigation of Shallow Liquid Sloshing in a Baffled Tank and the Associated Damping Effect by BM-MPS Method

Understanding the damping mechanism of baffles is helpful to make more reasonable use of them in suppressing liquid sloshing. In this study, the damping effect and mechanism of vertical baffles in shallow liquid sloshing under a rotational excitation are investigated by an improved particle method. By incorporation of a background mesh scheme and a modified pressure gradient model, the accuracy of impact pressure during sloshing is significantly enhanced. Combined with the advantages of the particle method, the present numerical method is a wonderful tool for the investigation of liquid sloshing issues. Through the analysis of impact pressure, the influences of baffle height and baffle position on the damping mechanism are discussed. The results show that the damping effect of vertical baffles increases with the increase of the elevation of baffle top and decreases with the increase of the elevation of the baffle bottom. Moreover, the resonance characteristics of sloshing are altered when static water is divided into two parts by the vertical baffle. The dominant damping mechanism of vertical baffles depends on the configurations.