Climate-Related Development Finance, Energy Structure Transformation and Carbon Emissions Reduction: An Analysis From the Perspective of Developing Countries

With the frequent occurrence of extreme weather in cities, economic, ecological and social activities have been greatly impacted. The adverse effects of global extreme climate and effective governance have attracted more and more attention of scholars. Considering the differences between developed and developing countries in climate response capacity, a key issue is how to encourage developed countries to provide adequate assistance to developing countries and enhance their enthusiasm to participate in addressing climate change challenges. Given this background, we evaluated the carbon emission reduction effects of developing countries before and after a “quasi-natural experiment” which involved obtaining the assistance of climate-related funding from developed countries. Specifically, we analyzed the assistance behavior for recipient countries and found that climate assistance can effectively reduce the carbon emissions level of recipient countries, and this result has a better impact on non-island types and countries with higher levels of economic development. Furthermore, the achievement of this carbon emissions reduction target stems from the fact that climate assistance has promoted the optimization of the energy structure of recipient countries and promoted the substitution of renewable energy for coal consumption. In addition, climate-related development finance plays a significant role in promoting the scientific and technological level of recipient countries, especially the development impact of the adaptive climate-related development finance. Therefore, this paper suggests that the direction of climate assistance should focus more on island countries and countries with low economic development level, and pay more attention to the “coal withdrawal” of recipient countries and climate adaptation field.

The prevention and treatment of Covid-19 and related development during pandemic

When the outbreak of human novel coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, the epidemic spread rapidly around the world and finally became a pandemic in 2020. In order to seek effective drugs to treat the Covid-19 infected patients for emergent use and for the disease prevention, researchers examined numerous existed antiviral drugs that may have the potential for Covid-19 treatment. At the same time, antibody treatment and vaccines development were ongoing simultaneously. The aim of this review is to introduce antibody therapy, vaccine development and potential antiviral treatments on Covid-19 and to discuss the future perspective on the Covid-19 pandemic.

ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS ON THE MEANING OF A CRITICAL APPROACH TO FEMINISTIC THEORY

A critical theory of communication (or economics, or politics) needs to involve a critique of society as a whole. Critical communication theory deals with a variety of relevant topics, including language, organizational structure, interpersonal relations, and the media. Communication itself according to a critical perspective is a result of the pressure (tension) between individual creativity in providing a framework for messages and social constraints. Development in the millennium era The Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) have one of the goals of which is towards the equal partnership of men and women by increasing justice and gender equality in every development sector. However, the problem of gender inequality is indicated by the low quality of life and the role of women, the high number of acts of violence against women as measured by the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Index (GEM). The research method used is qualitative in a literature review approach

Morphohistology and Biometric Characteristics of Cecal Tonsils of Sonali Chicken at Post-Hatching Ages

Knowledge of basic structures is prerequisite for acquiring an in-depth idea about the physiology and immunology of the lymphoid system. The study evaluates the age related histomorphometry of cecal tonsil of Sonali chicken at different postnatal stages in Bangladesh as literatures regarding this are very scarce. The investigation was carried out on 25 healthy Sonali chickens representing different stage of postnatal life: days 1, 14, 28, 42, and 56 (n=5). After ethically sacrifice (cervical subluxation method), cecal tonsil was collected and subjected for both gross and histological studies. Haematoxylin and Eosin stain was done for microscopic study. Morphologically, cecal tonsils were located bilaterally at the junction of small and large intestine. It had tubular structure and yellowish white in color. All gross parameters (weight, length, and width) found to be increased significantly (P<0.05) throughout the whole study period. Weight was measured 0.022±0.001 g at day 1 and noticed 0.181±0.016 g at the end of study tenure. The microscopic observations revealed that at day 28 encapsulated lymphatic nodules was present along with the diffuse lymphocytes at the lamina propria and submucosa layer, which was absent at the previous study groups. At day 1, only small infiltration of lymphocytes was identified and at day 14, lymphocytes were aggregating to form lymphatic nodules. After that, age related development was noticed in histological features. The findings would be a milestone to give an idea about the gut health and immune status of Sonali chicken and provide a basis for further immunization research.

Mental Stress and Strain Assessment in Digital Work

When digitalizing work, organizations face the challenge of analyzing, evaluating, and mitigating a potential increase in mental workload for employees and managers. This paper presents an instrument to assess mental stress and strain in digital work contexts and the related development process and validation. Based on a literature and instrument review and an interview study, we developed an assessment instrument and validated it in two coordinated studies ( N = 245, N = 279), ultimately resulting in an instrument with 139 items: 27 items addressing demographic aspects and 112 items dispersed over five categories (work task and activity, workflow and organizing, work environment, organizational climate, and personal attitude). To demonstrate the instrument’s validity, we calculated a structural equation model based on the framework of the job demands-resources model. The resulting instrument is comprehensive and can also be applied by HR nonprofessionals.

Chromogranin A plays a crucial role in the age-related development of insulin resistance and hypertension

Aging is associated with the development of metabolic disorders, including insulin resistance and hypertension. Young mice that are negative for the neuroendocrine prohormone Chromogranin A (CgA knockout, CgA-KO) display two opposite aging phenotypes: hypertension but heightened insulin sensitivity. We determined these phenotypes in aging CgA mice. In comparison, aging wild-type (WT) mice gradually lost glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Moreover, while aging WT mice had increased inflammation with higher plasma TNF-alpha;, IFN-gamma; and CCL2 and increased mitochondrial fission, these phenotypes were the opposite in aging CgA-KO mice. CgA-KO mice also showed increased expression of mitochondrial and nuclear-encoded complex I genes, implying that they were healthier than WT mice. Most intriguingly, the hypertension in CgA-KO mice was spontaneously reversed with aging. Supplementation of CgA-KO mice with pancreastatin, a hyperglycemic peptide produced from CgA by proteolysis, increased both blood glucose levels and blood pressure, implicating hyperglycemia, and hypertension. We conclude that age-related insulin resistance and hypertension are caused by CgA.

Hydrogeologic Study of the Bryce Canyon City Area, Including Johns and Emery Valleys, Garfield County, Utah

Groundwater resources development and the threat of future drought in Garfield County, southwestern Utah, prompted a study of groundwater quality and quantity in the environs of Bryce Canyon National Park and Bryce Canyon City in Johns and Emery Valleys. Water quality, water quantity, and the potential for water-quality degradation are critical elements determining the extent and nature of future development in the valley. The community of Bryce Canyon City is an area of active tourism and, therefore, of potential increase in growth (likely from tourism-related development). Groundwater exists in Quaternary valley-fill and bedrock aquifers (the Tertiary Claron Formation and Cretaceous sandstone). Increased demand on drinking water warrants careful land-use planning and resource management to preserve surface and groundwater resources of Johns and Emery Valleys and surrounding areas that may be hydrologically connected to these valleys including Bryce Canyon National Park.

Defining Climate Zone of Borneo based on Cluster Analysis

Although Borneo Island is one of the most vulnerable tropical regions to climate change, maps depicting the local climate conditions employing climate classification are still not well defined. The present study attempted regional climate classification to divide the Borneo region into several homogenous groups based on long-term average climate behavior. Daily gridded rainfall and temperature (Tavg, Tmax, and Tmin) data at 0.25o resolution spanning 56-years (1960−2016) was used. The classification was done using non-hierarchical k-mean and several hierarchical methods, namely, Single, Complete, McQuitty, Average, Centroid, Median, and two algorithms of Ward's method, wardD, and wardD2. The results showed that k-mean, wardD, and wardD2 were able to classify the climate of Borneo into four zones, namely 'Dry and hot' (DH), 'Wet and hot' (WH), 'Wet' (W), and 'Wet and cold' (WC) with a considerable difference at the boundaries. Spatial relevancy, stability, and variability of the clusters based on correlation and compromise programming showed that the wardD method was the most likely to yield acceptable results with optimum 4-cluster to partition the area into four principal climate zones. The constructed cluster plot, centroid plot, and probability distribution function (PDF) showed a distinct climatic characteristic between the climate zones in terms of rainfall, temperature, and seasonality. The proposed climate zonation for Borneo can help in better understanding climate regionality and climate-related development planning.

Change by challenge: A common genetic basis behind childhood cognitive development and cognitive training

The interplay of genetic and environmental factors behind cognitive development has preoccupied multiple fields of science and sparked heated debates over the decades. Here we tested the hypothesis that developmental genes rely heavily on cognitive challenges—as opposed to natural maturation. Starting with a polygenic score (cogPGS) that previously explained variation in cognitive performance in adults, we estimated its effect in 344 children and adolescents (mean age of 12 years old, ranging from 6 to 25) who showed changes in working memory (WM) in two distinct samples: (1) a developmental sample showing significant WM gains after 2 years of typical, age-related development, and (2) a training sample showing significant, experimentally-induced WM gains after 25 days of an intense WM training. We found that the same genetic factor, cogPGS, significantly explained the amount of WM gain in both samples. And there was no interaction of cogPGS with sample, suggesting that those genetic factors are neutral to whether the WM gains came from development or training. These results represent evidence that cognitive challenges are a central piece in the gene-environment interplay during cognitive development. We believe our study sheds new light on previous findings of interindividual differences in education (rich-get-richer and compensation effects), brain plasticity in children, and the heritability increase of intelligence across the lifespan.