Demand Gap Research Articles

ADVANCING THE POTENTIAL OF PET AND PP-BASED BEVERAGE PACKAGING TO SUPPORT CIRCULAR ECONOMY

With around 5.6 million tons of annual plastic consumption and merely 7 percent plastic recycling rate, Indonesia is facing a plastic pollution crisis. The recent progress of Indonesia’s recycling industries has provided an asset to address this crisis. In 2017, the domestic post-consumption plastic waste could only fulfil around 24 percent the domestic needs for recycled plastic, which stands at 1.65 million ton/year. Leveraging the plastic waste ‘asset’ through circular economy can fill this demand gap. A five-month study was conducted to analyse the recycling rate of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and Polypropylene (PP)-based beverage plastic packaging in Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Area to see their potential in fostering circular economy. Structured interview involving 385 upstream and downstream recycling actors in Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Area provided primary data for the study. While secondary data from previous studies, academic journals, Nielsen’s audit data and electronic sources complement the primary data, particularly regarding recycling actors and packaging consumption rate. The study showed that over 329 tons of beverage plastic packaging waste was collected daily in Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Area, in which PET-based packaging had accounted for 78 percent of them. Waste pickers play a key role here by contributing to 65% of the collected PET waste. The study also showcased a mature recycling chain of PET and PP-based packaging with its recycling rate that reaches 74 to 93 percent. Looking at their economic value, PET and PP contributed 30 to 51 percent to the income of waste collectors. It can also be estimated that economic activities related to PET management in the could generate IDR 700 million per day at collector level only. The demands of PET continue to increase following the growing innovation in PET-based products. An effectively managed PET and PP plastic system could simultaneously address this demand and foster circular economy.

Skills Mapping for Selected Industries of Special Economic Zones: Job Creation for Unemployed Youth of Balochistan (Article)


 
 
 
 
 We examined identifying the TVET institutional framework, mapping TVET skills, and estimating the available and potential jobs creation by selected nine industries of special economic and export processing zones (SEZs/EPZs) of Balochistan. Three field visits, three focus group discussions, and 20 plus key informant interviews via mixed research methods are conducted for mapping skills about the three categories of existing, proposed, and potential industries of Balochistan. The study results show that the provincial TVET system is underdeveloped to break-even the supply and demand gaps in technical, vocational, common, and specific TVET skills. The provision of relevant TVET skills may potentially develop skilled human resources to break-even the current and futuristic jobs creation and employment opportunities for the bulge of unemployed youth of Balochistan. The study is relevant to pinpoint some policy options for skillbased human resource development endeavours in the context of ongoing industrial development proposed for SEZs/EPZs of Balochistan.
 
 
 
 

The status and challenges of aquaculture development in Dodoma, a semi-arid region in Tanzania

Demand for fish is growing rapidly in Tanzania due to population growth and rising incomes. However, as fewer wild fish are being caught, there is a gap in fish supply. Aquaculture is a viable alternative source to meet the gap in fish demand. Tanzania has the perfect climate and land for fish farming. Aquaculture in fresh and salt water has grown quickly, yet the potential is not being fully tapped. Thus, the study assessed the growth of aquaculture in Dodoma, a rapidly developing semi-arid region of Tanzania, in order to determine its potential, challenges, and solutions. Thirty-six fish farmers from Dodoma urban district were visited and interviewed. The interviews gathered information about management practices, fish yield, and challenges. The findings show that aquaculture in the region began around 9 years ago, when the region began to expand. The aquaculture includes small-scale pond farming of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and African catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Fish yield was about 1925 kg ha−1 per culture cycle, and fish customers are definitely available. The main challenges were limited supply and high prices of fish feed and seeds, and limited water supply. Use of commercial feed, pond fertilisation, access to extension services, and ownership of a borehole were related to high fish yields in both species. Expansion of aquaculture in the region is possible with the improvement of extension services and training of farmers in proper breeding, feeding, and water management. To decrease water demands, integrated aquaculture, water recycling, and aquaponics should be encouraged.

PP41 COVID-19 Modeling To Support Decision Making In Brazil: A Scoping Review

IntroductionIn the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which required urgent responses from health systems, and ongoing decision making in a context of limited and evolving evidence, modeling played a significant role in supporting public policy making. Nonetheless, particularly in low and middle-income countries, modeling groups are scarce, and usually not routinely involved in supporting public health policy making. We aimed to appraise COVID-19 modeling work in Brazil during the pandemic.MethodsWe performed a scoping review following PRISMA guidelines to identify groups conducting COVID-19 modeling to support health decision-making in Brazil. Search strategies were applied to MEDLINE, LILACS, Embase, ArXiv, and also included National data repositories and gray literature. We excluded reports of models without modeling results. Titles, abstracts, data repository descriptions and full-text articles identified were read and selected by two reviewers. Data extracted included modeling questions, model characteristics (structure, type, and programming), epidemiologic data sources, main outcomes reported, and parameters. To further identify modeling groups that might have not yet published results, snowball sampling was performed, and a short survey was sent electronically. Investigators and policymakers were invited to an online interview, to obtain further information on how they interacted, communicated, and used modeling results.ResultsWe retrieved 1,061 references. After removing duplicates (127), 1,016 abstracts and titles were screened. From an initial selection of 142 abstracts, 133 research groups were identified, of which 67 didn’t meet the eligibility criteria. Of these, 66 groups were invited for an interview, of which 24 were available, including 18 modeling groups from academic institutions, and four groups from State Health departments. Most models assessed the impact of mitigation measures in cases/hospitalization/deaths and healthcare service demand. Interaction and communication with decision-makers were not well established in most groups.ConclusionsDespite a large number of modeling groups in Brazil, we observed a significant gap in modeling demand and communicating its results to support the decision-making process during the COVID-19 pandemic.

從檢驗書看穴位詞的語義演變及相關問題

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.
 漢語史學界對穴位詞的所知甚少，限於談醫書中穴位名由來。每種文獻的語言風貌有别，反之，從語言可窺知文獻形成的脈絡與書寫態度。有鑑於此，本文在材料與對象上做新嘗試，將檢驗書與穴位做有意義的結合。首先，擴展穴位本體研究，從《洗冤集録》揀出多義穴位詞“肩井”、“肩髃”、“缺盆”、“頰車”、“髮際”、“曲鬢”、“太陽”、“太陽穴”、“鼻山根”、“印堂”、“腰眼”，觀其歷時發展，澄清注解之誤，辨明義位及語法搭配，推測語義演變方向與機制。接著轉换視角，站在檢驗書立場，歸納穴位分布傾向，反思檢驗記録的疑問，及後代的處理態度。本文發現檢驗書的穴位詞出現新義位。單義穴位詞用穴位義，多義穴位詞語義趨向一致，指體表或骨骼。根據書證及語義演變的系統性，筆者認爲穴位義出現在前，體表或骨骼義在後，促使語義變化的機制是轉喻。在滿足交際需求與詞彙空缺兩條件下，促使穴位轉喻出體表或骨骼義。檢驗書穴位的分布集中於臉部，其次是肩部，因爲臉部是驗屍的重點項目。檢驗書的急救法曾以體表定位，是重視實用的表現。基於《洗冤集録》權威地位及檢驗者素質，對此後代選擇原文照録，不另補正，透露了檢驗體系始終堅持實用的價值觀。
 In Chinese language history, studies of the terms used for acupuncture points are scant, and they mostly focused on the origin of the names of acupuncture points found in medical books. As linguistic styles in literature vary, they yield hints to reconstruct the contexts and formation of a text, as well as the writing attitudes of its author. The present essay is a new attempt to deal with both the materials and subjects in an integrated study of the examination books and the names of acupuncture points.
 First, this study expands the ontological research of acupuncture points. From the Xiyuan jilu (Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified), it selects acupuncture point terms with multiple meanings for investigation, including Jianjing (Shaoyang gall bladder meridian of the foot), Jianyu (large intestine meridian of the hand), Quepen (Yangming stomach meridian of the foot), Jiache (Yangming stomach meridian of the foot), Faji (hair line), Qubin (Shaoyang gall bladder meridian of the foot), Taiyang, Taiyang point (temple), Bishangeng (bridge of nose), Yintang (ophryon), and Yaoyan (lumbar). We shall observe their evolution, clarify the errors found in notes, recognize semantic units and syntax combinations, and infer the semantic evolution direction and mechanism. Next, from the perspectives of the examination books, this study generalizes the distribution of acupuncture points and reflects upon the doubts of examination records and later generations’ attitudes towards relevant treatments.
 In this study we realize that some acupuncture point words in the examination books have new semantic units. The acupuncture point terms with a single meaning are so named according to the literal meaning of the acupuncture point. The semantic direction of acupuncture point terms with multiple meanings consistently refers to the bodys surface or bones. According to documentary evidence and the system of semantic evolution, the author argues that the meanings of acupuncture points appear before those of the bodys surface or bones; hence, the semantic change is a metonymy. Under the conditions of interactive demand and lexical gap, acupuncture points are a metonymy of the meanings of the body’s surface or bones.
 In the examination books, the distribution of acupuncture points is mainly to the face, followed by the shoulder; this is because the face is the key to postmortem examination. The first aid method recorded in the examination books was once positioned on the body’s surface; it reveals practicality. Given the authority of Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified and the examiners’ qualification, practitioners of later generations chose to copy the original texts without supplements and corrections. This practice reveals the practical values of the examination system.

Identification of crucial areas of water supply service in Shiyang River Basin based on service flow

The identification of crucial areas of ecosystem service is of great significance for accurate implementation of sustainable development measures and the improvement of regional ecosystem service. Taking Shiyang River Basin as a research unit, we analyzed the spatio-temporal variations of the provision and consumption of water supply services in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The water supply service flow model was used to quantitatively simulate water supply service flow. The ZONATION model was selected to identify the crucial areas in the Shiyang River Basin in 2020. The results showed that the provision of water supply services in the Shiyang River Basin showed a spatial pattern being high in the south and low in the north from 2005 to 2020, which declined gradually with time. The consumption showed a spatial pattern dominated by cultivated land and industrial land and temporal change with a downward trend in fluctuation. Each year, about 10.8% of water demand gap could be made up by replenishing upstream water resource. In 2020, the crucial areas of water supply service in Shiyang River Basin were 14455 km2. We proposed management strategies to repair and improve the capacity of water conservation, flow promotion, and water conservation in crucial areas from the perspective of provision, transmission, and consumption.

ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND DISTRIBUTION UNDER BONGAIGAON SUB-DIVISION- II APDCL (ASSAM), INDIA

Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) is the only public company which is responsible for power distribution in Assam. This article analysis demand and supply gap of electricity of Assam and percentages changes of shortages, demand and availability of energy and also study the rural area of Bongaigaon`s connected load mix, using R-square, trend analysis.

Filling the Demand Gap: The Success of Centrist Entrepreneurial Populism in the Czech Republic

This article argues that a new type of populism is emerging that combines entrepreneurial populism with centrist populism and takes as an example the success of the Czech party ANO and its leader Andrej Babiš. Entrepreneurial populist leaders are businesspeople who claim that because they have been successful in running a business, they can run a government efficiently, like a business. Entrepreneurial populists lack a coherent ideology and instead take advantage of where the political opening is greatest in the political spectrum. In the Czech Republic in the 2010s the opening was greatest in the centre, as much of the population had social liberal attitudes, although there were no social liberal parties to represent them. To test these hypotheses, the article presents a series of regression models explaining party vote choice in the 2013 and 2017 Czech elections. The findings confirm a demand for a centrist social liberal party that did not exist at that time.

Government Reserve of Rare Earths under Total Quota Management: An Interactive Game between Government and Rare-Earth Firms

The total quota control and reserve of rare earths are important means for the sustainable development and utilization of rare-earth resources. Focusing on the government reserve of rare-earth products under stochastic demand, this paper analyses the interactive decisions of the government and the rare-earth firms from a game-theoretic perspective. The government determines the total quantity, reserve quantity and reserve–release quantity of the rare-earth products to maximize social warfare, while the firm decides the price of rare-earth products to maximize its own profit. The results show that the production cost and the expected net present value (NPV) of the reserve are important factors affecting the government’s decisions. When the expected NPV of the reserve is below a threshold, the government adopts the no-reserve strategy: it determines only a total quota index that maximizes the current-period social welfare but keeps no reserve. When the expected NPV of a reserve is higher than the above threshold but lower than the production cost, the government adopts the low-reserve strategy: it determines a total quota index and a low reserve that are both in increasing in the expected NPV of reserve, and will release the reserve as many as possible if there is a supply shortage. When the expected NPV of a reserve is higher than both the above threshold and the production cost, the government adopts the high-reserve strategy: it sets a total quota index which is sufficiently large to cover the entire market demand, reserves a large amount, and releases part of the reserve to completely fill the demand gap (if any).

Accessibility of Small and Medium Enterprises to Institutional Credit in Emerging Economies—Bangladesh Setting

Though SMEs have low accessibility to institutional credit, this accessibility may reduce the cost of capital. Therefore, this study explores field level status of accessibility of SMEs to institutional credit along with finding out the causes of low accessibility. Descriptive statistics, accounting and financial techniques, and a logistic regression model are applied to analyse the data. This study finds a demand and supply gap of SME credit. Moreover, SMEs have to bear some additional costs besides the interest of institutional credit. Banks are more conscious regarding their loan’s safety and security in the SME sector. Therefore, SMEs are facing difficulties in getting access to institutional credit. Again, SME entrepreneurs are not concerned regarding the interest rate of institutional credit, which ensures that the entrepreneurs are capable enough to earn more than the cost of institutional credit. By the study’s findings, respective government authorities, Bangladesh Bank, banks, other financial institutions and SME entrepreneurs can get a guideline to enhance the credit flow in the SME sector.

Oil mediated green synthesis of nano silver in the presence of surfactants for catalytic and food preservation application

Abstract The present study details the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using clove oil as a reducing and stabilizing agent. Cationic, anionic, nonionic and zwitterionic surfactants were introduced to study the change in size, shape, and morphology of nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were characterized using different techniques. The nanoparticles had shown specific surface Plasmon resonance band with absorbance between 380 and 385 nm. The X-ray diffraction study revealed that the nanoparticles are composed of spherical cubic crystals with average size between 136 and 180 nm while Dynamic Laser scattering (DLS) studies revealed an effective diameter of 82 nm and polydispersity index of 0.005. Thermogravimetric analysis suggested that the particles are stable even at 600 °C. All the samples presented good antibacterial and antifungal efficacies against Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia and Candida albicans and good catalytic activities for the degradation of fast green and Allura red dyes. Further, thin edible films of the nanoparticles were prepared using sodium alginate for food preservation. The films were coated on fruits and vegetables for extending their shelf life to cope with demand and supply gap.

Future Outlook of Fresh Water Supply and Demand in Selangor

Water is an essential resource for the well-being of humans as well as for ecosystems. In this regard, the increasing water scarcity areas has become one of the major problems faced by humanity. In Malaysia, Selangor is considered a water-stressed area due to the increase in water demand and limited suitable fresh water resources for treatment and distribution. The increase in population as well as urbanization and industrialization made the rivers in Selangor arguably the most polluted compared to other states. These situations result in a series of unscheduled water supply interruption over the years and negatively impact the majority of consumers. Projected water demand also indicates that the existing water supplies are not sufficient in the long run, therefore, it is deemed required to study the water demand and supply gap in Selangor to ensure the current water management is sustainable for the remote future. This paper mainly discusses on the current water production from Water Treatment Plants as well as projection of water demand which also foresee the future water deficit in Selangor. The method used in this study was based on review of secondary data acquired from available published report and website, while the assessment of water demand conducted comprise of calculation of projected population, projected domestic water demand, projected total water demand and water deficit up to year 2050. According to the result obtained, the existing water demand and supply in Selangor is 4,967 MLD, meanwhile, the projection of water demand in Selangor up to year 2050 is 7,011 MLD with the projected water deficit of 2,044 MLD. The findings of this paper are essential in water resources planning and management, particularly in terms of additional raw water supply that will be required to cater to the future water demand in Selangor.

An Empirical Analysis of the Role of Forage Product Trade on Grassland Quality and Livestock Production in China

The restoration of grassland ecosystems and the development of the livestock industry in China are constrained by a gap in livestock feed supply and demand. The importation of forage products, as an important means to bridge this feed gap, deserves attention for its relationship with grassland quality and livestock production. This paper empirically examines the relationship between forage products trade and grassland quality, as well as livestock production. The paper uses a cointegration test and error correction model based on data on forage product trade, grassland quality, and livestock production in seven livestock-type regions from 2006 to 2020. The results show that forage product trade has a long-term stable equilibrium relationship with grassland quality in China. The relationships between forage product trade and livestock production in different livestock-type regions are heterogeneous. Among these heterogeneous results, livestock production in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region, Loess Plateau Region, Southwest Mountain Region, and Northeast Region are closely related to forage product trade. It appears that importation of feed reduces pressure on natural grasslands, as well as providing high-quality feed that improves livestock production. The above findings can help explain the characteristics of livestock production in different livestock-type regions in China, as well as provide empirical evidence and new ideas for restoring grassland environments and developing herbivorous animal husbandry.

Modeling of Irrigation Water Demand for Sustaining Crop Yield in Saline Environment

Increasing the productivity of water and making safe use of poor quality water in agriculture will play a vital role in easing competition for scarce water resources prevention of environmental degradation and provision of food security. The purpose of this study is to cover the crop water demand and supply gap with the management strategies. The comparison of actual water supplies and demand, i.e. crop water demand has been calculated and found that demand is more than supply. The daily reference evapotranspiration for Bhutana distributory is estimated using pan-Montieth method in CROPWAT model and crop-water demand has also been calculated using CROPWAT model. The supply shortfall in total Rabi seasons is 329.5 mm in 2009-10 and 162.2 in 2010-11. This gap is met by pumping ground water. Different scenario is generated after canal supply gap analysis because supply is less and demand is more and at the same, ground water quality is not so good. In some places, there is a problem of salinity or sodicity. Twelve point have been selected for soil sample from different locations of Butanadistributory. The result revealed that EC, SAR, RSC varies from 1.5 g/kg, 2.7-20 (mmoles kg-1)0.5 , 0- 8.8 mg/l. The best management strategies such as growing salt tolerant crops varieties and proper irrigation scheduling with effective conjunctive use of multiquality irrigation water, and pre-sowing water management was suggested for various scenarios of deficit canal water supply, poor soil and ground water quality, and water logging conditions for growing more food with less water of good/poor quality. This study will be helpful for engineers, researchers and farmers in taking decision on utilization of ground water, which will minimize their yield losses in scarce water supply and marginal quality of ground water.

Experimental demonstration of entanglement delivery using a quantum network stack

Scaling current quantum communication demonstrations to a large-scale quantum network will require not only advancements in quantum hardware capabilities, but also robust control of such devices to bridge the gap in user demand. Moreover, the abstraction of tasks and services offered by the quantum network should enable platform-independent applications to be executed without the knowledge of the underlying physical implementation. Here we experimentally demonstrate, using remote solid-state quantum network nodes, a link layer, and a physical layer protocol for entanglement-based quantum networks. The link layer abstracts the physical-layer entanglement attempts into a robust, platform-independent entanglement delivery service. The system is used to run full state tomography of the delivered entangled states, as well as preparation of a remote qubit state on a server by its client. Our results mark a clear transition from physics experiments to quantum communication systems, which will enable the development and testing of components of future quantum networks.

Multi-objective co-optimization of design and operation in an independent solar-based distributed energy system using genetic algorithm

Solar-based distributed energy systems (SDES) are gradually gaining international attention in the renewables expansion. The energy storage systems bring the desired adjustment flexibility to the demand but also make it challenging to maximize system comprehensive performance. Therefore, this paper is focused on investigating the impacts of the demand flexibility on the SDES and finding an optimal solution that simultaneously and synergistically considers both the design and the operation of the system. In the conducted study, the impacts of batteries and thermal energy storage on the supply–demand gap and permissible load region were comprehensively investigated. The results of the analysis indicate that ‘Strategy 1’ performs well in terms of technical and environmental performance, but lack performance in terms of economics as the lack of negative demand flexibility results in the highest installed capacity of the prime mover. Hence, different principles and strategies were proposed to balance the negative flexibility and the supply–demand gap, as well as to exploit the potential for an increased economical, technical, and environmental performance. In the end, various strategies, including a nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), were employed to optimize the installed capacities of the SDES so that both the design and the operation of the system could be optimized collaboratively to maximize the system benefits. The results of the proposed optimization showed that the lowest annual cost can be reduced by 37.46 %, from 9.45 × 104 USD to 5.91 × 104 USD, when compared to the traditional case. In addition, the multi-objective co-optimization presented a 38.32 % reduction in annual total cost, however with a deterioration of 5.83 % in both primary energy saving ratio and CO2 emission. In terms of the utility of the findings for potential practical installations, based on the obtained simulation results, a full and a 0.45 negative flexibility reserves are suggested for the cooling and non-cooling demand periods, respectively.

Effects of various types of nanomaterials on PCM melting process in a thermal energy storage system for solar cooling application using CFD and MCMC methods

• A vertical shell and tube LHTES unit where D-mannitol was utilized as the PCM on the shell side was numerically analyzed. • Ag, Cu, Al 2 O 3 , CuO, TiO 2 , GNP, MWCNT, and SWCNT were added to PCM to enhance its thermophysical properties. • CFD and, a method based on Bayesian inference, was adopted by coding the Bayesian MCMC simulation for predicting the melting time. • Adding carbon-based nanomaterials to pure PCM reduced the melting time by about 50%, while metal nanoparticles impaired the melting performance. • Adding metal oxide nanoparticles did not add any essential advantage to the LHTES system. Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems are attractive for bridging the energy supply and demand gap. In such systems, reducing storage time is critical, especially for solar applications. Accordingly, this study mainly aims to employ various nano-additives, including metal (Ag and Cu) and metal-oxide (Al 2 O 3 , CuO, and TiO 2 ) nanoparticles and carbon-based nanomaterials (GNP, MWCNT, SWCNT), to improve the thermophysical properties of pure phase change materials (PCM) to accelerate the melting process. For this purpose, the energy storage performance was numerically analyzed in a vertical shell and tube LHTES unit where D-mannitol was utilized as the PCM on the shell side. Dynalene-ht was employed as a heat transfer fluid (HTF) in the tube. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, transient variations in liquid fraction, PCM temperature, and total melting time were investigated under the impact of the following parameters: the thermophysical properties and volume fraction of nanomaterials, Re and the inlet temperature of HTF. In addition, a methodology based on Bayesian inference was adopted by coding the Bayesian MCMC simulation to create proper models for predicting the melting time. The numerical results showed that adding carbon-based nanomaterials to pure PCM reduced the melting time by about 50%, while metal nanoparticles impaired the melting performance. It was also observed that adding metal oxide nanoparticles did not add any essential advantage to the LHTES system. This research will help design TES applications in the operating temperature range of 160–200 °C, especially in solar cooling systems.

P‐10.3: Design of Driving Waveform Based on a Damping Oscillation for Optimizing Red Saturation in Three‐Color Electrophoretic Displays

The three-color electrophoretic displays (EPDs) technology has filled the gap in the color demand in the electrophoretic displays. However, there are problems of dim brightness and insufficient color saturation. In this paper, a driving waveform based on a damping oscillation is proposed to optimize the red saturation in three-color EPDs. The optimized driving waveform is composed of an erasing stage, a particles activation stage, a red electrophoretic particles purification stage, and a red display stage. Correspondingly, the driving duration is set to 360 ms, 880 ms, 400 ms, and 2400 ms, respectively. And the red electrophoretic particles purification stage is a damping oscillation driving waveform. The red and black electrophoretic particles are separated by changing the magnitude and polarity of the applied electric field so that the red electrophoretic particles are purified. The experimental result shows that the maximum red saturation could reach 0.583, which is increased by 27.57% compared with the traditional driving waveform.

Key issues related to clinical trials of xenotransplantation

The development of xenotransplantation is expected to alleviate the supply and demand gap of donors' organs. Currently,gene-edited pigs are considered as ideal organ donor source for clinical xenotransplantation. Driven by relevant technologies,substantial progress have been achieved in preclinical studies of xenotransplantation,which creates good conditions for the opening of early clinical trials. Especially in recent two years,the foreign clinical research in this field has made a breakthrough. Here,the progress in xenotransplantation of clinical trials is briefly reviewed home and abroad,the key issues in clinical trials of xenotransplantation are discussed from the perspectives of gene editing of donor pigs,principles of whole-course management of subjects,ethics and social psychology issue. It is believed that under the background of multidisciplinary cross-fusion,xenotransplantation will be gradually transferred to clinical application in the future,and better benefit human beings.

Assessing the genetic diversity of guava germplasm characterized by morpho-biochemical traits.

Amid environmental crises, a galloping population, and changing food habits, increasing fruit production with nutritional quality is a global challenge. To address this, there is a necessity to exploit the germplasm accessions in order to develop high-yielding varieties/hybrids with good adaptability and high quality fruit under changing environmental and biological conditions. In the study, a total of 33 morpho-biochemical traits enabled an assessment of the genetic variability, diversity, and structure in a collection of 28 diverse germplasm lines of guava. Results showed that highly significant genetic variability existed in the studied traits in the guava germplasm. The coefficient of variation values for the qualitative and quantitative traits varied from 23.5–72.36 to 1.39–58.62%, respectively. Germplasm Thai, Lucknow-49, Punjab Pink, Psidium friedrichsthalianum, and Shweta had the highest fruit weight (359.32 g), ascorbic acid content (197.27 mg/100 g fruit), total phenolic content (186.93 mg GAE/100 g), titratable acidity (0.69 percent), and antioxidant capacity (44.49 μmolTrolox/g), respectively. Fruit weight was positively correlated with ascorbic acid content; however, titratable acidity was negatively correlated with fruit weight. The principal component analysis (PCA) was 84.2% and 93.3% for qualitative and quantitative traits, respectively. Furthermore, K-mean clustering was executed; the population was grouped into three clusters for both traits. Additionally, the dendrogram using agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC), where all the germplasm were grouped into four clusters, revealed that among the clusters, clusters III and IV were highly divergent. The high variability, diversity, and structure could be utilized for the breeding programme of guava and also explored for molecular analysis using next-generation technology to enhance the guava yield and nutrition properties and also develop the climate resilient technology to fulfill the existing demand gap and nutrition availability, which could not only mitigate the nutrition requirement but also enhance the easy availability of fruits year-round.