The objective of this study is to analyse the long-run dynamic relationship of carbon dioxide emissions, real gross domestic product (GDP), the square of real GDP, energy consumption, trade and ...tourism under an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) model for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries. Since we find the presence of cross-sectional dependence within the panel time-series data, we apply second-generation unit root tests, cointegration test and causality test which can deal with cross-sectional dependence problems. The cross-sectionally augmented Dickey-Fuller (CADF) and the cross-sectionally augmented Im-Pesaran-Shin (CIPS) unit root tests indicate that the analysed variables become stationary at their first differences. The Lagrange multiplier bootstrap panel cointegration test shows the existence of a long-run relationship between the analysed variables. The dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) estimation technique indicates that energy consumption and tourism contribute to the levels of gas emissions, while increases in trade lead to environmental improvements. In addition, the EKC hypothesis cannot be supported as the sign of coefficients on GDP and GDP
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is negative and positive, respectively. Moreover, the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality tests exploit a variety of causal relationship between the analysed variables. The OECD countries are suggested to invest in improving energy efficiency, regulate necessary environmental protection policies for tourism sector in specific and promote trading activities through several types of encouragement act.
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BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Urban construction is increasingly decoupled from population and economic trends.•Center-of-gravity and other models demonstrate regional shifts in development axes.•Such expansion is providing ...fewer economic benefits and should be curbed.
The rapid expansion of urban construction land will lead to decoupling from the trend of economic development and population growth. A previous study have shown that there is a long-term bidirectional causal relationship between urban land expansion and economic and population growth. To further explore this relationship, we used remote sensing and statistical data combined with center-of-gravity shift index, coordination degree model, Theil index, and Tapio elastic decoupling index. The main results were as follows: (1) The urban construction land expansion in Liaoning Province has obvious geographical location characteristics, and it can be classified in three types: only along the traffic lines expansion, only along the coastline, along the rivers and traffic lines concurrently. (2) The per capita construction land area (PCCLA) is growing rapidly, and by 2015, 13 cities (all except Benxi) of the province exceeded the national standard for PCCLA (120 m2). Three of these cities (Yingkou, Dalian, and Huludao) exceeded the standard by more than 100%. The uncoordinated areas of land and population urbanization spread from coastal areas to central and western areas and finally to the entire province. (3) The correlation between urban construction land expansion and economic growth has changed from weak positive to strong negative decoupling. After 2010, the decoupling index for all cities became negative. In Huludao, Chaoyang, Panjin, Dalian, Shenyang, and Jinzhou, the construction land expansion was more than 3%, coupled with a 1% decrease in non-agricultural GDP. For other cities, the construction land expansion was less than 3% for a 1% decrease in non-agricultural GDP. These results demonstrate that the rapid growth of construction land was related to a negative economic growth. The findings also suggest that under the current pattern of economic growth, it may be difficult to control the expansion of construction land. New construction land should be reasonably planned and managed, and the dependence of economic growth on construction land and speed of population urbanization is a new challenge that should be reexamined by the local government.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This study examines the dynamic links between per capita CO
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emission, economic growth, agricultural value added, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and investigates the existence of ...Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for a panel of E7 countries spanning the period 1990-2014. The estimates indicate that there is a positive relationship between CO
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emissions and real GDP, non-renewable energy consumption and agricultural value added in the long run, whereas a negative relationship is represented between CO
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emissions and square of real GDP and renewable energy consumption. The results of long-run estimates support the inverted U-shape EKC in these selected countries. Regarding the Granger causality analysis, bi-directional Granger causality exists between non-renewable energy consumption and CO
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emissions in the long run. In regards policy implications and recommendations, E7 countries should keep on increasing the share of renewable energy for the sake of growth purposes in the agricultural sector, thereby reducing fossil energy consumption for environmental improvements.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This study aims to investigate the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, energy consumption, real output (GDP), the square of real output (GDP²), trade openness, urbanization, and ...financial development in the USA for the period 1960–2010. The bounds testing for cointegration indicates that the analyzed variables are cointegrated. In the long run, energy consumption and urbanization increase environmental degradation while financial development has no effect on it, and trade leads to environmental improvements. In addition, this study does not support the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for the USA because real output leads to environmental improvements while GDP² increases the levels of gas emissions. The results from the Granger causality test show that there is bidirectional causality between CO₂ and GDP, CO₂ and energy consumption, CO₂ and urbanization, GDP and urbanization, and GDP and trade openness while no causality is determined between CO₂ and trade openness, and gas emissions and financial development. In addition, we have enough evidence to support one-way causality running from GDP to energy consumption, from financial development to output, and from urbanization to financial development. In light of the long-run estimates and the Granger causality analysis, the US government should take into account the importance of trade openness, urbanization, and financial development in controlling for the levels of GDP and pollution. Moreover, it should be noted that the development of efficient energy policies likely contributes to lower CO₂ emissions without harming real output.
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CEKLJ, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
One of the questions that remain unanswered in the literature on determinants of carbon emissions is the moderating effect of “financial development”. This becomes imperative, owing to the connection ...of carbon emissions to environmental degradation, which is considered to be one of the main challenges to sustainable development. Thus, this study investigated the moderating role of financial development in the determinants of carbon emissions for Turkey during the period of 1960 to 2016. Zivot–Andrew and Lee–Strazicich “unit root tests” were utilized to investigate the stationarity properties of the series. The cointegration among the variables employed was examined by utilizing the ARDL bounds test and Bayer–Hanck cointegration test. In contrast, the long-run causal relationship of the variables with carbon emissions was examined by using fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), dynamic OLS (DOLS), and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR). The empirical findings reveal the significance of “economic growth”, “capital formation”, “energy consumption”, “urbanization”, and “financial development” as determinants of environmental degradation in Turkey. The study also found the significant moderating role of “financial development” in the relationship between “economic growth” and carbon emissions, capital formation and carbon emissions, and urbanization and carbon emissions. The environmental–financial related policies were suggested for the policymakers in Turkey to aid the reduction of carbon emission with the view of improving environmental quality.
The 2303 Wetlands of International Importance distribute unevenly in different continents. Europe owns the largest number of sites, while Africa has the largest area of sites. More than half of the ...sites are affected by three or four impact factors (55%). The most significant impact factors are pollution (54%), biological resources use (53%), natural system modification (53%), and agriculture and aquaculture (42%). The main affected objects are land area and environment of the wetlands, occurred in 75% and 69% of the sites, respectively. The types most affected by land area occupation are river wetlands and lake wetlands, the types with the greatest impact on environment are marine/coastal wetlands and river wetlands, the type with the greatest impact on biodiversity is river wetlands, the types most affected by water resources regulation are marsh wetlands and river wetlands, and the types most affected by climate change are lake wetlands and marine/coastal wetlands. About one-third of the wetland sites have been artificially reconstructed. However, it is found that the proportions of natural wetland sites not affected or affected by only one factor are generally higher than that of wetland sites both containing natural wetlands and human-made wetlands, while the proportions of wetland sites both containing natural wetlands and human-made wetlands affected by three or four factors are generally higher than that of natural wetland sites. Wetland sites in the UK and Ireland are least affected among all countries. Wetland management plans in different regions still have large space for improvement, especially in Africa and Asia. The protection and restoration of global wetlands can be carried out in five aspects, including management and policy, monitoring, restoration, knowledge, and funding.
Obesity: A preventable, treatable, but relapsing disease De Lorenzo, Antonio; Romano, Lorenzo; Di Renzo, Laura ...
Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.),
March 2020, 2020-03-00, 20200301, Volume:
71
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
•The spread of primary obesity is pandemic, like an infectious disease.•The expansion of visceral fat plays a role in metabolic and functional alterations.•Poor nutrition is represented by the ...typical foods of the Western diet.•Obesity and poor nutrition deaths were ~11 million in 2017.•The stigma of fat is pervasive and results in “fat shaming.”
In 2013, the American Medical Association recognized obesity as a disease, of growing scientific, social, and political interest. In 2016 in the United States, prevalence rates of preobesity and obesity exceeded 60%. In Italy, these rates exceeded 40%. Total costs related to excess weight reached 9.3% of the U.S. gross domestic product, whereas in Italy the total annual cost of diabetes alone was estimated at 20.3 billion euros/y. The expansion of adipose tissue and visceral fat causes compression, joint stress, metabolic disorders, organ dysfunction, and increased mortality. The increase in peripheral and central fat mass is a chronic and potentially reversible process with appropriate diagnosis and treatment. Conversely, fattening can turn into a chronic relapsing form, complicated by comorbidities and cardiovascular events. The increased risk for mortality and morbidity also can affect metabolically healthy obese individuals, if the condition is underestimated, with disease progression. Due to its inaccuracy, body mass index must be replaced with body composition for the diagnosis of obesity. The chances of obesity reversibility are closely linked to improving the diagnosis and to timely nutritional interventions. Generalization and stigma hinder the treatment of obese individuals. The recognition of obesity as a disease and institutional interest can shift the focus onto obesity and not on the obese, with improvements in adherence to prevention plans. Anthropogenic factors and gut microbiota can influence human behavior and food choice, such as food addiction. Obesity has all the criteria to be recognized as a disease. Proper clinical management will lead to cost and complications savings, such as in diabetes. The aim of this review was to discuss in detail the criteria for defining primary obesity as a disease in a step-by-step manner.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
I develop a highly tractable general equilibrium model in which heterogeneous producers face collateral constraints, and study the effect of financial frictions on capital misallocation and aggregate ...productivity. My economy is isomorphic to a Solow model but with time-varying TFP. I argue that the persistence of idiosyncratic productivity shocks determines both the size of steady-state productivity losses and the speed of transitions: if shocks are persistent, steady-state losses are small but transitions are slow. Even if financial frictions are unimportant in the long run, they tend to matter in the short run and analyzing steady states only can be misleading.
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BFBNIB, CEKLJ, INZLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
Myo9a is an actin-based molecular motor with a RhoGAP domain in its C-terminal tail. It plays a role in a variety of biological processes, such as in regulating the immune response, neuron ...development, and cancer progression, and its deregulation can lead to the development of disease conditions. Myo9a acts mainly via its RhoGAP domain. In the current study, we used a pET32a vector with an N-terminal Trx-His6 tag to express Myo9a-RhoGAP in a soluble form. High-purity Myo9a-RhoGAP protein was obtained after two rounds of Ni.sup.2+ affinity and size-exclusion chromatography. We mixed Myo9a-RhoGAP and RhoA in equimolar ratios in the presence of 5 mM MgCl.sub.2 and 20 mM NaF to achieve a stable RhoA GTP hydrolysis transition state complex. Analytical gel filtration and SDS-PAGE were used to verify complex formation. ITC and GAP assays suggested that Myo9a-RhoGAP could bind to RhoA and accelerate RhoA GTP hydrolysis in vitro. We purified the soluble Myo9a-RhoGAP protein with GAP activity and achieved the Myo9a-RhoGAP/RhoA·GDP/MgF.sub.3.sup.- complex assembly in vitro for the first time. The data may provide novel insights into Myo9a structure and function.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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