Towards sustainable development in a transition economy: The case of eco-industrial parks in Ukraine

Sustainable development for transition economies is an opportunity to accelerate and complete socio-economic transformations and at the same time an additional responsibility in situations of instability and uncertainty. The chances for strengthening sustainability are growing within the organized innovation space, which makes it possible to model scenarios of ecologically oriented development and, with the help of state and international support, to start their implementation. The paper aims to analyze the possibilities and directions of creating eco-industrial parks in a transition economy. It uses an innovative helix model in its triple, quadruple and quintuple variations for functioning and sustainable development of industrial parks in Ukraine.The study adopts a descriptive comparative analysis of data on the planning and implementation of economic, primarily environmentally relevant, activities. Based on the analysis and description of exogenous factors, in particular within GEIPP, a SWOT table on the potential of eco-industrial parks was formed. The directions of development of industrial, technological, and scientific parks in Ukraine are determined using the quintuple helix model on the plane of “knowledge-innovation”, in particular on quadruple helix transition to sustainability through the simultaneous development of socially oriented and environmental activities. Within the legislation, it is proposed to approve a sustainable form of artificially separated innovation parks, namely the “eco-industrial park”. One of the conditions for advanced sustainable development in Ukraine is the creation of a national program to support the transformation of innovation parks into their environmental versions 2.0 and 3.0, as well as investing in greenfield eco-industrial parks.

Mutant KRAS-associated proteome is mainly controlled by exogenous factors

KRAS signaling has been extensively studied, yet the clarification between KRAS-autonomous and non-autonomous mechanisms are still less explored. Understanding how KRAS signaling and effects are affected by exogenous stimuli can provide valuable insights not only to understand resistance mechanisms that justify pathway inhibition failure, but also to uncover novel therapeutic targets for mutant KRAS patients. Hence, aiming at understanding KRAS-autonomous versus non autonomous mechanisms, we studied the response of two mutant KRAS colorectal cancer cell lines (HCT116 and LS174T) - control and KRAS silenced- to TGFβ1-activated fibroblasts secretome. By performing a total proteome analysis, we observed that TGFβ1-activated fibroblast-secreted factors triggered cell line-specific proteome alterations and that mutant KRAS governs approximately 1/3 of those alterations. Moreover, the analysis of the impact of exogenous factors on the modulation of KRAS proteome revealed that, in both cell lines, more than 2/3 of the KRAS-associated proteome is controlled in a KRAS-non-autonomous manner and dependent on the exogenous factors. This work highlights the context-dependency of KRAS-associated signaling and reinforces the importance of establishing more integrative models resembling the complexity of the tumor microenvironment to study KRAS-associated signals.

Relationship between Inherent Cooking Rate and Warner-Bratzler Shear Force of Pork Chops Cooked to Two Degrees of Doneness

The objective was to test inherent cooking rate differences on tenderness values of boneless pork chops when exogenous factors known to influence cooking rate were controlled. Temperature and elapsed time were monitored during cooking for all chops. Cooking rate was calculated as the change in °C per minute of cooking time. Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) was measured on chops cooked to either 63 °C or 71 °C. Slopes of regression lines and coefficients of determination between cooking rate and tenderness values for both degrees of doneness (DoD) were calculated. Shear force values decreased as cooking rate increased regardless of DoD (p ≤ 0.05), however changes in tenderness due to increased cooking rate were limited (β1 = −0.201 for 63 °C; β1 = −0.217 for 71 °C). Cooking rate only explained 3.2% and 5.4% of variability in WBSF of chops cooked to 63 °C and 71 °C, respectively. Cooking loss explained the most variability in WBSF regardless of DoD (partial R2 = 0.09–0.12). When all factors were considered, a stepwise regression model explained 20% of WBSF variability of chops cooked to 63 °C and was moderately predictive of WBSF (model R2 = 0.34) for chops cooked to 71 °C. Overall, cooking rate had minimal effect on pork chop tenderness.

Seeking Incentives for a Successful Second and third Business Opportunity after Bankruptcy in Times of Recession

In the years of the financial and sovereign debt crisis in Greece, many viable businesses that are facing financial difficulties are led to liquidation rather than timely restructuring, with very few entrepreneurs having a second chance. This corporate failure faced by Greek companies in recent years may have been caused by either endogenous or exogenous factors or a combination of these two. In this paper we investigate the factors (economic, social and political) that will help to facilitate entrepreneurs' access to a second and third opportunity, taking also into account socially vulnerable groups such as disabled people and women entrepreneurs. Moreover, we try to find the characteristics that would encourage honest bankrupt entrepreneurs to a second business venture and the sectors where a second chance may have increased chances of sustainability in Greece. The aim of our research is to lead Greece to higher levels of self-employment, reduction in unemployment, and exit from the crisis.

Effect of Exogenous Factors on Transformation Processes in the Russian Agro-Industrial Complex

The purpose of the research is to study the trends of transformation of forms of management in the Russian agro-industrial complex in the conditions of preserving the general contradictions of the development of small and large forms of management. The main objective is to analyze the Russian agro-industrial complex. The subject of the study is the forms of management and the trends of their development. The last two decades are considered as the main time horizon of the study. The study made it possible: firstly, to reveal a stable tendency towards the predominance of large farms in the structure of production and the dynamics of output volumes given the existing institutional factors; secondly, to determine scenario forecasts (conservative, basic and optimistic) of the main trends in the further development of small and large forms of management; thirdly, to show the influence of the phenomenon of a global pandemic on transformation processes in the Russian agro-industrial complex. The relevance of this study is since during the thirty years of the market transformation of the national system of agrarian relations, significant changes have occurred among the main economic entities: especially in the issues of the evolution of the content, motivation of activity, sustainability factors and classification criteria for economic entities engaged in the production of agricultural products. These processes are reflected in the solution of common strategic problems: issues of ensuring both national food security and global food security issues

International experience of long-term budget projections: national and subnational levels

The subject of the research is the approaches used in foreign experience in the formation of forecasts of budget parameters for the long term. The study aims to determine the quality criteria for national and regional long-term budget projections based on the best practice of developed countries. In foreign practice, the question of choosing preferable solutions for long-term budget projections remains open. In Russian studies, some of the above issues are highlighted as of the first decade of the 2000s and require updating, and the foreign regional experience on the use of the longterm budget forecasting lacks detailed analyses. This substantiates the relevance of this study. The novelty consists in highlighting the list of “best practices” in implementing long-term fiscal projection for the national and subnational levels based on the study of the experience of foreign countries. To achieve this goal, the author uses methods of a comparative analysis of international experience in building budget forecasts, system analysis, and analogy. As a result, a list of criteria that meet the good practices of developing long-term budget forecasts has been formed. It is proposed to determine the forecasting horizon within 30–50 years, generate forecasts annually or with a specified frequency if there is a mechanism for updating them. The authors conclude that developing forecasts on a scenario basis using the principle of continuity in relation to the estimates obtained and forecasting methodology, as well as assessing the sensitivity of budget parameters to exogenous factors and budget sustainability are necessary characteristics of longterm budget projections. Prospects for the study consist in studying methodological solutions for forecasting budget parameters and developing tools for the regions of the Russian Federation for calculating indicators of long-term budget projections.

Sound: production, perception, hearing loss & treatment options

Sound is an important communication tool for humans that contain information about the surrounding environment. It may signify a danger or a reward for an organism. In humans, the mechanism of sound production and perception is complex and sophisticated. Sound is produced by vibrating body in a medium that contains molecules in the surrounding space. The sound perception starts in human foetus at around the third trimester where it plays a vital role in organising the foetal brain. This process continues after birth and can be exploited by various endogenous and exogenous factors. Many mechanisms that can modulate hearing process at different levels lead to subclinical or clinical presentation of hearing-related problems. It is important to contemplate the mechanisms underlying sound production, perception and pathogenesis of hearing loss. This will facilitate prescribing a relevant treatment option according to the cause and its underlying mechanism. --Continue

Environmental efficiency of Xiangjiang River in China: a data envelopment analysis cross-efficiency approach

PurposeEnvironmental performance becomes a key issue for the sustainable development. Recently, incremental information technology is adopted to collect environmental data and improve environmental performance. Previous environmental efficiency measures mainly focus on individual decision-making units (DMUs). Benefited from the information technology, this paper develops a new environmental efficiency measure to explore the implicit alliances among DMUs and applies it to Xiangjiang River.Design/methodology/approachThis study formulates a new data envelopment analysis (DEA) environmental cross-efficiency measure that considers DMUs' alliances. Each DMUs' alliance is formulated by the DMUs who are supervised by the same manager. In cross-efficiency evaluation context, this paper adopts DMUs' alliances rather than individual DMUs to derive the environmental cross-efficiency measure considering undesirable outputs. Furthermore, the Tobit regression is conducted to analyze the influence of exogenous factors about the environmental cross-efficiency.FindingsThe findings show that (1) Chenzhou performs the best while Xiangtan performed the worst along Xiangjiang River. (2) The environmental efficiency of cities in Xiangjiang River is generally low. Increasing public budgetary expenditure can improve environmental efficiency of cities. (3) The larger the alliance size, the higher environmental efficiency. (4) The income level is negatively correlated with environmental efficiency, indicating that the economy is at the expense of the environment in Xiangjiang River.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to developing a new environmental DEA cross-efficiency measure considering DMUs' alliance, and combining DEA cross-efficiency and Tobit regression in environmental performance measurement of Xiangjiang River. This paper examines the exogenous factors that have influences on environmental efficiency of Xiangjiang River and derive policy implications to improve the sustainable operation.

Mechanism of kinetin-induced death of Vicia faba ssp. minor root cortex cells

Cell death (CD) may be induced by endogenous or exogenous factors and contributes to all the steps of plant development. This paper presents results related to the mechanism of CD regulation induced by kinetin (Kin) in the root cortex of Vicia faba ssp. minor. To explain the process, 6-(2-hydroxy-3-methylbenzylamino)purine (PI-55), adenine (Ad), 5′-amine-5′-deoxyadenosine (Ado) and N-(2-chloro-4-piridylo)-N′-phenylurea (CPPU) were applied to (i) block cytokinin receptors (CKs) and inhibit the activities of enzymes of CK metabolism, i.e., (ii) phosphoribosyltransferase, (iii) kinases, and (iv) oxidases, respectively. Moreover, ethylene glycol-bis(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (EGTA), lanthanum chloride (LaCl3), ruthenium red (RRed) and cyclosporine A (CS-A) were applied to (i) chelate extracellular calcium ions (Ca2+) as well as blocks of (ii) plasma-, (iii) endoplasmic reticulum- (ER) membrane Ca2+ ion channels and (iv) mitochondria- (MIT) Ca2+ ions release by permeability transition por (PTP), respectively. The measured physiological effectiveness of these factors was the number of living and dying cortex cells estimated with orange acridine (OA) and ethidium bromide (EB), the amounts of cytosolic Ca2+ ions with chlortetracycline (CTC) staining and the intensity of chromatin and Ca2+-CTC complex fluorescence, respectively. Moreover, the role of sorafenib, an inhibitor of RAF kinase, on the vitality of cortex cells and ethylene levels as well as the activities of RAF-like kinase and MEK2 with Syntide-2 and Mek2 as substrates were studied. The results clarified the previously presented suggestion that Kin is converted to appropriate ribotides (5′-monophosphate ribonucleotides), which cooperate with the ethylene and Ca2+ ion signalling pathways to transduce the signal of kinetin-programmed cell death (Kin-PCD). Based on the present and previously published results related to Kin-PCD, the crosstalk between ethylene and MAP kinase signalling, as well as inhibitors of CK receptors and enzymes of their metabolism, is proposed.