Global Growth Research Articles

REVITALIZING FOREST MANAGEMENT IN INDONESIAN FOREST INDUSTRY POST-COVID-19: EXPECTATIONS FROM YOUNG FORESTERS (A CASE STUDY FROM UNIVERSITY STUDENTS)

The global health emergency triggered by COVID-19 has had a significant impact on Indonesia's forestry industry. This study investigates the expectations of young foresters regarding the post-pandemic landscape, exploring various aspects such as industry performance, focus, worker protection, global strategies, and personal views on the industry's future. In conjunction with descriptive statistics, word cloud analysis was employed to identify salient issues drawing substantial attention. Through purposive sampling at a leading forestry university in Indonesia, the study reveals that young foresters perceive the transition towards developing industries based on non-timber forest products and environmental services as potential areas of growth. However, they acknowledge that the timber-based industry has historically been the backbone of Indonesia's forest industry and is likely to maintain its significance as forest management trends toward plantation forestry. Additionally, the study demonstrates the enduring appeal of the forestry sector to the younger generation, positioning it as a valuable entrepreneurial field.

The Impact of Russia – Ukraine War on Global Economy

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia contributed to a notable rise in global prices of food and crude oil petroleum. The surge in the global food price index following the invasion was fueled by supply chain disruptions. In general, the incursion resulted in a continuous increase in inflation in both belligerent and non-belligerent nations. The following study shows how economic sanctions and regional conflict lead to an international energy crisis. Despite mediating countries like Turkey, it had a disastrous impact not only on geopolitical stability but also on economic development within and outside of Europe. The study used to assess the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on global trade and business. This paper investigates the global economic growth and consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war over a four month period from December 2021 to March 2022. Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022.

A Multi-Scale Feature Fusion Deep Learning Network for the Extraction of Cropland Based on Landsat Data

In the face of global population growth and climate change, the protection and rational utilization of cropland are crucial for food security and ecological balance. However, the complex topography and unique ecological environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau results in a lack of high-precision cropland monitoring data. Therefore, this paper constructs a high-quality cropland dataset for the YarlungZangbo-Lhasa-Nyangqv River region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and proposes an MSC-ResUNet model for cropland extraction based on Landsat data. The dataset is annotated at the pixel level, comprising 61 Landsat 8 images in 2023. The MSC-ResUNet model innovatively combines multiscale features through residual connections and multiscale skip connections, effectively capturing features ranging from low-level spatial details to high-level semantic information and further enhances performance by incorporating depthwise separable convolutions as part of the feature fusion process. Experimental results indicate that MSC-ResUNet achieves superior accuracy compared to other models, with F1 scores of 0.826 and 0.856, and MCC values of 0.816 and 0.847, in regional robustness and temporal transferability tests, respectively. Performance analysis across different months and band combinations demonstrates that the model maintains high recognition accuracy during both growing and non-growing seasons, despite the study area’s complex landforms and diverse crops.

Global Growth Strategy of Netflix as a Digital Media Contents Platform: A Focus on Industry Structure Analysis

Global Growth Strategy of Netflix as a Digital Media Contents Platform: A Focus on Industry Structure Analysis

Assessing Statistical Methods for Generating Forecasts for COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic, a persistent global health emergency that has affected almost all facets of daily life, was initially discovered in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Since that time, the virus has rapidly spread over the globe, causing serious social and economic upheavals necessitating the need for reliable forecasting methods. This study compares ten distinct models to predict the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka, aiming to assess the performance of statistical models using limited and volatile real-world data characterized by trends, random peaks, and autocorrelations. In addition to the classical ARIMA model, various smoothing and filtering techniques were explored to capture the unique characteristics of the data. The model consistencies in multiple-day predictions were demonstrated, and robust evaluation criteria, along with non-robust measures, were utilized to enhance the effectiveness of the evaluation process. The results highlight the effectiveness of traditional smoothing and filtering strategies such as Simple Exponential Smoothing, Holt’s Exponential Smoothing, and the Smoothing Splines technique coupled with the ARIMA model. This study also discovered that the ARIMA model, when applied directly to the original data without using any smoothing or filtering approaches, failed to forecast adequately, thereby demonstrating the insufficiency of the ARIMA model on its own to provide credible forecasts when given a volatile set of data.

Global emergence of Escherichia coli with PBP3 insertions.

Escherichia coli producing metallo-β-lactamases with penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3) insertions have reduced susceptibility to aztreonam-avibactam and cefiderocol. Here, we analysed high-quality E. coli genomes for PBP3 insertions. E. coli genomes (n = 167 518) were retrieved from EnteroBase with CheckM2 for quality control, fastANI for species confirmation, multi-locus sequencing typing for sequence type (ST) determination and AMRFinderPlus for resistance gene identification. For PBP3 insertion analysis, we used Prokka for predicting coding sequences, BLAST+ for comparing resulted protein sequences and SnpEff for annotating variants. Among the included 159 341 genomes, PBP3 insertions with 11 variants were found in 2.01% (n = 3198). The predominant variant is a duplication of 334-337 amino acids (aa) (94.75%, n = 3030), comprising YRIN (65.92%, n = 2108) and its single-aa-variant YRIK (28.83%, n = 922), followed by a similar PYRI duplication of 333-336 (4.16%, n = 133). The less common ones are a TIPY duplication of 331-334 (n = 24) and its single-aa-variant TVPY's duplication: TVVPY (n = 1), TVPYTVPY (n = 1) and TVPYPVPY (n = 1). Rare duplications include VGDR of 106-109 (n = 3), ANALNIPL of 114-121 (n = 3), AL of 567-568 (n = 1) and TG of 584-585 (n = 1). Insertion variants were detected across 62 countries on six continents, primarily in human samples, and associated with 85 STs, concentrated in high-risk clones ST410 (29.18%, n = 1923), ST167 (23.40%, n = 1740) and ST405 (10.56%, n = 1334), with 83.32% (n = 2218) encoding metallo-β-lactamase NDM. Global spread of E. coli harbouring PBP3 insertion, often with NDM β-lactamase, high-risk ST410, ST167 and ST405 clones and various hosts, underscores the escalating antimicrobial resistance crisis and the urgency for a 'One Health' strategy.

Culture goes East: Mapping the shifting geographies of urban cultural capital through major cultural buildings

Culture has become a major component of policies to put cities on the global map. This article traces the shifting geographies of urban cultural capital using the lens of major cultural buildings, such as the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which cities often mobilise to compete for attention, reputation, tourists and investment. Based on a custom-built database containing 438 major cultural buildings opened worldwide between 1990 and 2019, this article finds a strong growth in the number and total cost of these buildings throughout the three decades, far exceeding global GDP growth. What is more, there is a geographical shift from the established cities of high culture in North America and Western Europe towards Asia, with a particular concentration in China and the Gulf region. The growth of investment in culture and its fast-changing urban geographies urge a more profound integration of culture in urban studies and a deeper consideration of the role of cultural capital in making global cities.

The hazard analysis of passenger-cargo ferries: a revised risk matrix model based on fuzzy best-worst method.

Improving hazards in maritime transport is essential to maintain the reliability and sustainability of the industry, ensure safety and security, and support global trade and economic growth. This paper is aimed at analyzing the hazards of passenger-cargo ferries (PCFs). The novelty of this paper is fourfold: (1) developing a revised risk matrix (RRM) model with considering the adaptability-based resilience of organization to assess PCFs' hazards, (2) identifying risk factors (RFs) in ferry navigation and developing adaptive strategies to mitigate hazards, (3) applying the fuzzy best-worst method (BWM) to determine the RFs' weight, and (4) employing the leading Taiwanese passenger-cargo ferry operator (the Taiwan-ferries case) as an empirical study to verify the proposed model. The empirical result can provide pragmatic information for ferry operators to improve the safety of their ferry navigations. Additionally, the proposed RRM model can provide a methodological reference for related research in hazard management.

The Analysis of Strategic Development of Tesla in Chinese Electric Vehicles Market

Since 2012, Tesla has established many factories and research and innovation centers in China. This paper examines the strategic development of Tesla in the Chinese electric vehicles (EV) market and reveals several key findings. As one of the world’s leading EV manufacturers, Tesla’s expansion into China has been a significant milestone in its global growth strategy. The analysis focuses on Tesla’s market entry strategy, competitive positioning, localization efforts, and the impact of Chinese policies and market dynamics on its operations. By studying Tesla’s strategic decisions and outcomes in the Chinese EV market, this paper provides insights into the opportunities and challenges faced by multinational companies in the rapidly evolving Chinese EV industry.

Global health resource distribution during COVID-19 and in future pandemics: Here’s what people say

Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, countless individuals across the world needed novel and sophisticated health care resources simultaneously, leading to dramatic global shortages. How to distribute resources in such situations? This dilemma is neither new nor understudied: Its complexity is well known to medical ethicists, public health scientists and philosophers. Building on this knowledge, powerful global distribution frameworks were proposed already early into the pandemic. Despite this knowledge, no globally consensual regulations existed (and exist) on the political sphere. Worse still, numerous countries hoarded resources for themselves, increasing global inequalities and prolonging the pandemic for everyone. For future emergencies, it is thus necessary to develop immediately applicable strategies. Because public acceptance is key for such interventions, evidence on the public opinion towards allocation principles is strongly needed. In 2021, we asked representative samples of N = 2694 adults in England and Germany to rate seven COVID-19-specific global allocation principles. In line with literature on justice attitudes in general, extensions of bifactor(S-1) models showed that participants would have preferred a more equity- or equality-based global resource distribution during the pandemic, presenting themselves as more cosmopolitan than global leaders. Trying to understand these attitudes better, we tested preregistered hypotheses on relations with other constructs and found positive associations between equity- and equality-directed preferences and global human identification, among others. To ensure generalisability on future pandemics, we collected data from a second cohort in spring 2024. All results will be presented in detail. With their responses, European citizens call upon the development of fairer and more efficient global distribution mechanisms. This global public health perspective could inform preparations for future global emergencies. Key messages • European citizens would have preferred a more equity- or equality-based global distribution of scarce health care resources during the COVID-19 pandemic than global leaders organised. • Citizens’ global perspective on public health and their strong emphasis on global fairness should inform preparations for future pandemics and other global emergencies.

Resolving the developmental mechanisms of cardiac microthrombosis of SARS-CoV-2 based on single-cell transcriptome analysis.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) developed into a global health emergency. Systemic microthrombus caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection is a common complication in patients with COVID-19. Cardiac microthrombosis as a complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection is the primary cause of cardiac injury and death in patietns with severe COVID-19. In this study, we performed single-cell sequencing analysis of the right ventricular free wall tissue from healthy donors, patients who died during the hypercoagulable period of characteristic coagulation abnormality (CAC), and patients who died during the fibrinolytic period of CAC. We collected 61,187 cells enriched in 24 immune cell subsets and 13 cardiac-resident cell subsets. We found that in the course of SARS-CoV-2 infected heart microthrombus, MYO1EhighRASGEF1Bhighmonocyte-derived macrophages promoted hyperactivation of the immune system and initiated the extrinsic coagulation pathway by activating chemokines CCL3, CCL5. This series of events is the main cause of cardiac microthrombi following SARS-CoV-2 infection. In a SARS-CoV-2 infected heart microthrombus, excessive immune activation is accompanied by an increase in cellular iron content, which in turn promotes oxidative stress and intensifies intercellular competition. This induces cells to alter their metabolic environment, resulting in increased sugar uptake via the glycosaminoglycan synthesis pathway. In addition, high levels of reactive oxygen species generated by elevated iron levels promote increased endogenous malondialdehyde synthesis in a subpopulation of cardiac endothelial cells. This exacerbates endothelial cell dysfunction and exacerbates the coagulopathy process.

Exploring Health Professionals’ Views on Hive: A Digital collaborative space for Health Emergencies

Abstract Background The rapidly changing media landscape has significantly affected how information is consumed, particularly during health emergencies. Conflicting information shared or information lacking in scientific rigour can be exploited nefariously online to undermine the health response and damage trust. Digital platforms have become increasingly vital for facilitating communication, and in response, the WHO developed the Hive digital space to provide a safe environment for public health professionals to convene, share information, ask questions, and learn from each other. This study aims to explore the experiences of public health professionals in health emergencies to assess the added value of the Hive platform to coordinate and connect health expertise globally. Methods This study uses a cross-sectional online survey distributed to Hive users focusing on their experiences of working in health emergencies. The responses will undergo descriptive and thematic analysis, as well as inferential statistics such as one-way ANOVA and post-hoc analysis. The survey will emphasize the practical application, value, satisfaction, perceptions, and strategy for the Hive platform to be utilised for global health emergency coordination. Expected Outcomes Insights from this study will delineate how the Hive platform is used by public health experts at all levels in emergency management. It will also highlight the challenges, needs and demands for digital tools to connect skills, experience and knowledge in one place. These insights will demonstrate how the Hive can streamline these processes and provide a safe space for information exchange for a coordinated response to health emergencies. Conclusions Understanding the needs and perceptions of Hive users involved in health emergency prevention, preparedness, response, and resilience will provide critical insights into optimizing the platform’s usability, connectiveness across emergency teams and sustainability of the platform. Key messages • Connecting communities, fostering collaboration and co-creation for improved health emergency management. • Hive enhances collaboration among health professionals, providing a safe environment for knowledge and information sharing.

<b>Performance of Candidate Varieties of Basmati Rice in Uniform Yield Trials</b>

The primary focus of rice breeding research is now on developing high-yielding rice varieties with early maturing and physio-chemical features, such as improved cooking quality, aroma, and extra-long grain. This shift in focus is driven by the growing global demand for high-quality rice. Using traditional breeding methods to trait pyramid these extremely important traits while maintaining yield and quality is a challenging task. Good grain quality(aromatic), fertilizer responsiveness, and high-yielding varieties can help the farmers in Pakistan to increase their revenue despite global population growth and changing international market patterns. At the Rice Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku (RRI KSK), new, improved, high-yielding, extra-long grain lines with the qualities of early maturity, small stature, and good cooking with aroma are being developed through traditional breeding methods. The present study aimed to assess the genetic variability of these lines in terms of paddy yield and to discover superior high-yielding cultivars suitable for widespread cultivation. There were notable variations in paddy yield among the different entries in the pooled analysis. The highest average paddy yield (5010 Kg/ha) was seen in entry 10640-10-1-1-1, followed by entry 10684-3-1-2 (4990 Kg/ha) and PK 10434-6-2-1 (4550 Kg/ha) and suggested for general cultivation based on their mean paddy yield. A strong positive correlation was seen between the grain thickness grading of over 2.2 mm and the number of panicles per plant. The overall quality of the Uniform Yield Trials of Fine rice samples can be reported as excellent for PK 10306-15-5, PK PB-8 and PK 10678-2-1-1 over check Basmati-515. There will be a simultaneous increase in grain yield with improvements in these qualities.

Longitudinal evidence for a mutually reinforcing relationship between white matter hyperintensities and cortical thickness in cognitively unimpaired older adults

BackgroundFor over three decades, the concomitance of cortical neurodegeneration and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) has sparked discussions about their coupled temporal dynamics. Longitudinal studies supporting this hypothesis nonetheless remain scarce.MethodsWe applied global and regional bivariate latent growth curve modelling to determine the extent to which WMH and cortical thickness were interrelated over a four-year period. For this purpose, we leveraged longitudinal MRI data from 451 cognitively unimpaired participants (DELCODE; median age 69.71 [IQR 65.51, 75.50] years; 52.32% female). Participants underwent MRI sessions annually over a four-year period (1815 sessions in total, with roughly four MRI sessions per participant). We adjusted all models for demographics and cardiovascular risk.ResultsOur findings were three-fold. First, larger WMH volumes were linked to lower cortical thickness (σ = -0.165, SE = 0.047, Z = -3.515, P < 0.001). Second, individuals with higher WMH volumes experienced more rapid cortical thinning (σ = -0.226, SE = 0.093, Z = -2.443, P = 0.007), particularly in temporal, cingulate, and insular regions. Similarly, those with lower initial cortical thickness had faster WMH progression (σ = -0.141, SE = 0.060, Z = -2.336, P = 0.009), with this effect being most pronounced in temporal, cingulate, and insular cortices. Third, faster WMH progression was associated with accelerated cortical thinning (σ = -0.239, SE = 0.139, Z = -1.710, P = 0.044), particularly in frontal, occipital, and insular cortical regions.ConclusionsOur study suggests that cortical thinning and WMH progression could be mutually reinforcing rather than parallel, unrelated processes, which become entangled before cognitive deficits are detectable.Trial registrationGerman Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00007966, 04/05/2015).

A Review of Tiktok Livestreaming Commerce

In recent years, live-streaming commerce has witnessed remarkable global growth, catalyzed in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. TikTok, originally a video-sharing app, has undergone rapid expansion and now offers livestreaming capabilities. This review aims to explore how TikTok livestreaming is reshaping the marketing landscape. The objective is to uncover the advantages of TikTok livestreaming for various stakeholders, shedding light on its potential implications for marketers, customers, and content creators. A comprehensive examination of existing literature was conducted, analyzing studies, reports, and academic papers. The analysis focused on the multifaceted benefits of TikTok live streaming for marketers, customers, and content creators. It also considered practical implications for businesses utilizing this platform. TikTok livestreaming fosters real-time engagement between marketers and customers, leading to enhanced trust and more effective product demonstrations. It appeals to younger demographics, offering a valuable marketing avenue. For customers, it facilitates interactive, informative, and emotionally engaging shopping experiences. Content creators can leverage TikTok live streaming to monetize their content and deepen connections with their audience, enhancing brand exposure. In conclusion, TikTok livestreaming is reshaping e-commerce by facilitating immersive, interactive, and trust-building experiences for marketers, customers, and content creators. Marketers should focus on quality interaction, product presentation, and partnering with suitable content creators. Collaborations with influencers should consider credibility and alignment with brand values. Leveraging TikTok's livestreaming capabilities offers the potential to cultivate customer loyalty and retention, transforming conventional marketing paradigms in the process

Importance of Eco-Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Climate Action and LowCarbon Transition in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Nigeria

Climate change poses socio-economic, legal and environmental vulnerabilities such as land degradation, biodiversity loss, loss of property and livelihood, increase poverty rate and a threat to public health. These impacts are said to only intensify with projected increase in population and global economic growth. Hence, global consensus advocate for decarbonisation and low carbon transition in all economic sectors as an effective mitigation strategy for climate change. In an attempt to lower carbon emissions, leading cooperation’s and organizations have focused on mitigation projects that regulate activities of cooperate actors and big CO2 emitters such as the oil and gas conglomerates. However, the United Nation Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) promotes a transformative bottom-up approach to address climate change via localism and citizen participation to educate and train eco-entrepreneurs or ecopreneurs who participate and engage in strategic entrepreneurship projects designed to actively decarbonize economies. These ecopreneurs generate home-grown sustainabilityfocused small and medium scale eco-enterprises (SMEEs), also called energy citizens, ecological citizens, energy communities and co-operatives that can develop sustainable business model innovations, nature-based services and solutions, sustainable business management strategies, technologies and green jobs needed to drive the low carbon transition in key CO2 -emitting economic sectors such as the energy, agriculture, transportation, waste management, food, tourism, building and architecture and fashion industries. This article examines the characteristics, nature and benefits of eco-entrepreneurship as a tool for advancing climate action and low carbon energy transition. Using Nigeria as a case study, a profile of the barriers slowing the growth of eco-entrepreneurship is identified within the PESTEL framework. Furthermore, drawing examples from the U.K. governance landscape and portfolio, recommendations on a transformative yet contextual strategy captured in the five transformative features (diversity, connectivity, polycentricity, redundancy and directionality) are made to interrogate and overcome entrepreneurial ecosystem barriers towards successfully supporting the rapid growth of eco-entrepreneurship.

Understanding trends, patterns, and dynamics in global company acquisitions: a network perspective

Studying acquisitions offers invaluable insights into startup trends, aiding informed investment decisions for businesses. However, the scarcity of studies in this domain prompts our focus on shedding light in this area. Employing Crunchbase data, our study delves into the global network of company acquisitions using diverse network analysis techniques. Our findings unveil an acquisition network characterized by a primarily sparse structure comprising localized dense connections. We reveal a prevalent tendency among organizations to acquire companies within their own country and industry, as well as those within the same age bracket. Furthermore, we show that the country, region, city, and category of the companies can affect the formation of acquisition relationships between them. Our temporal analysis indicates a growth in the number of weakly connected components of the network over time, accompanied by a trend toward a sparser network. Through centrality metrics computation in the cross-city acquisition network, we identify New York, London, and San Francisco as pivotal and central hubs in the global economic landscape. Finally, we show that the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany are predominant countries in international acquisitions. The insights from our research assist policymakers in crafting better regulations to foster global economic growth, and aid businesses in deciding which startups to acquire and which markets to target for expansion.

Study on Promoting Marine Economic Development with New Quality Productivity

With the rapid development of the global economy, the marine economy has become a new engine to promote global economic growth. The purpose of this article is to explore strategies for developing new, high-quality productivity that will support the marine economy’s quality development. New quality productivity refers to advanced productivity centered on scientific and technological innovation and characterized by high efficiency, intelligence, and green. The article describes the importance of the marine economy and its strategic position in national economic development. It proposes a strategy to promote the development of the marine economy with new quality productivity by analyzing the current challenges facing the development of the marine economy.

Degree of Concern and Awareness of Spanish Consumers About Working Conditions in the Clothing Industry

The clothing industry has experienced global and sustained growth in the last decades due, among other factors, to the decentralisation of production in this sector and its consequent lowering of prices, but also to the effect of the unceasing demand that fashion generates. Simultaneously, the number of people employed in the textile sector has been growing in economically developing countries under precarious labour conditions. The objective of this study is to analyse the level of knowledge and awareness of the Spanish population about the working conditions in clothing manufacturing at production sites. To achieve this, we applied statistical analysis to data collected from a sample (n = 3000) of Spanish fashion consumers. The main results show a society with a high degree of concern for labour conditions in the textile sector, as well as for the environmental repercussions triggered by this type of production. Considering the differences based on socio-demographic variables, we find that women, older consumers, and respondents with higher education show a greater degree of concern about the working conditions in the clothing industry. Along the same lines, respondents who are ideologically left wing present a higher degree of concern than respondents from the extreme right.

Adapting Efficiency Analysis in Health Systems: A Scoping Review of Data Envelopment Analysis Applications During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: To synthesize the current evidence base concerning the application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in healthcare efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic using a scoping review of 13 primary studies. Methods: We consulted databases including Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus, as well as manual search entries up to September 2022. Included studies were primary applications of DEA for assessing healthcare efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key findings derived from thematic analysis of repeating pattern observations were extracted and tabulated for further synthesis, taking into consideration the variations in DMU definitions, the inclusion of undesirable outputs, the influence of external factors, and the infusion of advanced technologies in DEA. Results: The review observed a diverse application of DMUs, ranging from healthcare supply chains to entire national health systems. There was an evident shift towards incorporating undesirable outputs, such as mortality rates, in the DEA models amidst the pandemic. The influence of external and non-discretionary factors became more pronounced in DEA applications, highlighting the interconnected nature of global health challenges. Notably, several studies integrated advanced computational methods, including machine learning, into traditional DEA, paving the way for enhanced analytical capabilities. Conclusions: DEA, as an efficiency analysis tool, has exhibited adaptability and evolution in its application in the context of the COVID-19 healthcare crisis. By recognizing the multifaceted challenges posed by the pandemic, DEA applications have grown more comprehensive, integrating broader societal and health outcomes. This review provides pivotal insights that can inform policy and healthcare strategies, underscoring the importance of dynamic and comprehensive efficiency analysis methodologies during global health emergencies.