Main Beneficiary Research Articles

Chinese Direct Investments in the Russian Far East Economy

The Far East is traditionally very attractive to Chinese business. The region has everything to attract Chinese investments: geographic proximity, accumulated experience of cooperation, differences in economic development and factors of complementarity. All these facts have an impact on the economic ties of the Russian Far East and the PRC. In theory, the Far East should become the main beneficiary of the strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing. Currently, the four southern regions of the Russian Far East demonstrate different models of China’s economic activity, depending on the historical background and the level of economic development. The bulk of Chinese investment in the Russian economy comes from intergovernmental cooperation, especially in the energy sector and large infrastructure projects, while there are few private investors from China. Therefore, Chinese investors face the problem of transforming their activities and looking for new business opportunities. This paper systematizes the main projects of Russian-Chinese investment cooperation carried out through intergovernmental agreements, as well as investigates the dynamics of direct investment from China. Despite the positive trend, it was revealed that the total amount of accumulated investments is decreasing with debt instruments being the main share of it. In the northern regions of the Far East, the activity of Chinese investors is practically excluded. The authors identify the main problems of Russian-Chinese investment cooperation in the Far East based on the analysis of Russian and foreign studies.

Effects on carrion consumption in a mammalian scavenger community when dominant species are excluded

Carrion is a valuable resource exploited not only by obligate scavengers but also by a wide variety of facultative scavengers. These species provide several important ecosystem services which can suffer if the scavenger community composition is altered, thus reducing the ecosystem provided. We studied the response of the Mediterranean facultative scavenger community to the exclusion of larger scavenger species (red fox Vulpes vulpes, European badger Meles meles, and wild boar Sus scrofa) using an exclusion fence permeable to small scavenger species (mainly Egyptian mongoose Herpestes ichneumon, common genet Genetta genetta, and stone marten Martes foina). The exclusion of dominant facultative scavengers led to a significant reduction in the amount of carrion consumed and an increase in carrion available for smaller species and decomposers, over a longer period of time. Although carrion consumption by the non-excluded species increased inside the exclusion area relative to the control area, it was insufficient to compensate for the carrion not eaten by the dominant scavengers. Of the small scavenger species, only the Egyptian mongoose significantly increased its carrion consumption in the exclusion area, and was the main beneficiary of the exclusion of dominant facultative scavengers. Therefore, altering the facultative scavenger community in Mediterranean woodlands can reduce the efficiency of small carcass removal and benefit other opportunistic species, such as the Egyptian mongoose, by increasing the carrion available to them. This interaction could have substantial implications for disease transmission, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem function.

Who will benefit from big data? Farmers’ perspective on willingness to share farm data

Agricultural industries are facing a dual challenge of increasing production to meet the growing population with a disruptive changing climate and, at the same time, reducing its environmental impacts. Digital agriculture supported by big data technology has been regarded as a solution to address such challenges. However, realising the potential value promised by big data technology depends upon farm-level data generated by digital agriculture being aggregated at scale. Yet, there is limited understanding of farmers' willingness to contribute agricultural data for analysis and how that willingness could be affected by their perceived beneficiary of the aggregated data. The present study aimed to investigate farmers' perspective on who would benefit the most from the aggregated agricultural data, and their willingness to share their input and output farm data with a range of agricultural sector stakeholders (i.e. other farmers, industry and government statistical organisations, technology businesses, and research institutions). To do this, we conducted a computer-assisted telephone interview with 880 Australian farmers from broadacre agricultural sectors. The results show that only 34 % of participants regarded farmers as the primary beneficiary of aggregated agricultural data, followed by agribusiness (35 %) and government (21 %) as the main beneficiary. The participants’ willingness to share data was mostly positive. However, the level of willingness fluctuated depending on who was perceived as the primary beneficiary and with which stakeholder the data would be shared. While participants reported concerns over aggregated farm data being misused and privacy of own farm data, perception of farmers being the primary beneficiary led to the lowest levels of concerns. The findings highlight that, to seize the opportunities of sustainable agriculture through applying big data technologies, significant value propositions for farmers need to be created to provide a reason for farmers to share data, and a higher level of trust between farmers and stakeholders, especially technology and service providers, needs to be established.

Emiratos Emiratos Árabes Unidos en Oriente Medio. Antiislamismo, militarismo y estrategia de presión múltiple

TThe United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) foreign policy has experienced substantial changes since the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring in 2011. This paper describes the characteristics and main reasons of this transformation, as well as the possible consequences of a visible militaristic projection that goes beyond the limits of the Gulf region, the main scenario of Emirati diplomatic action until recently. Our framework takes into account, first of all, the traditional link between the United States and the UAE and how recent US administrations changed their perception about security in the Gulf; how Emir Mohammed bin Zayed has secured his grip over the country, and the relevance of his alliance with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; the aim of neutralizing the democratic stream that emerged from the Arab revolutions and, from there on, the Emirati perception about how political Islam and particularly the current best represented by the Muslim Brotherhood was becoming the main beneficiary of the erosion of the traditional Arab regime. Moreover, this paper proposes that despite the convergence with Saudi Arabia in a number of scenarios, the UAE has kept a foreign policy based on its own interests, which strengthened its increasing role as a regional main contender in the Middle East.

МЕХАНІЗМИ ЗМІЦНЕННЯ ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ БЕЗПЕКИ ГРОМАДЯН УКРАЇНИ В УМОВАХ СУСПІЛЬНО-ПОЛІТИЧНОЇ КРИЗИ ТА ЗОВНІШНІХ ВИКЛИКІВ

The article outlines systemic threats, substantiates the need and highlights mechanisms for strengthening the economic security of the citizens of Ukraine in the context of exacerbation of socio-political crisis and external challenges. The existing in inconsistency of basic social standards in Ukraine and their institutional provision with real conditions and needs of citizens causes inadequate state guarantee of its beneficiaries (citizens) rights to life, earnings, housing, health care and, in general, - to self-reproduction and development. Given the aggravation of socio-political and socio-economic crises, deepened by hostilities in eastern Ukraine, the annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, ensuring economic security of citizens, especially vulnerable groups - migrants, large and young families, the elderly is highly important. The main reason for the high level of vulnerability of socio-economic rights of citizens is the imperfection of state and regional policy, inefficient management of state resources, which leads to their privatization or hidden unfair redistribution of shadow schemes in favor of political elites. As a result, this fact has led to excessive stratification of the population in terms of income, when about 80% of the total population of Ukraine receives a monthly income below the real subsistence level, the spread of poverty among workers. The analysis shows that the reforms in Ukraine are carried out without proper forecasting and assessment of the expected effectiveness, taking into account the key performance indicators (KRI) to ensure the economic security of the main beneficiary of the state - a citizen of Ukraine. Further reform of the socio-economic sphere requires the introduction of institutional changes with the obligatory priority of economic security of the citizens.

Siam as a ‘tributary state’ of imperial China and the age of empire

When considering the fortunes of the Thai monarchy in the age of empire, scholarly attention tends to focus on Siam’s relations with the European colonial powers, especially Britain and France. But prior to the coming of the colonial powers to East Asia, Siam, along with mainland Southeast Asia’s other monarchies, was a tributary state of an older, powerful empire: China. Among the most important effects of the European colonial penetration of Southeast Asia was to draw Siam out of the economic and geopolitical orbit of the Chinese empire. The historic 1855 Bowring Treaty, which granted the British Empire most favoured nation status, marks the beginning of Siam’s integration into a global economy dominated by the Europeans. Yet despite this, Siam’s rulers continued to be concerned about the country’s relationship with China. This article considers the nature of Siam’s tributary relationship with China and how this relationship changed in the era of European imperialism. It argues that contrary to Sinocentric views of the tributary system, for much of its history Siam was the main driver and beneficiary of this relationship.

Deglobalization, Globalization, and the Pandemic

This article is a theory piece focused on causal propositions codification and future trends identification, both supported by descriptive statistical data. It aims to analyze the middle-term dynamics of globalization and deglobalization due to the effects of the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis, in general, and the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular. The broader context in which such dynamics are situated are the processes of capitalist world-economy restructuring, propitiated by the crisis the U.S. hegemony, on the one hand, and by the Chinese rise, on the other. We argue that the COVID-19 pandemic tends to deepen and accelerate ongoing processes of global fragmentation, especially in the productive and commercial dimensions. From the point of view of governments, in particular the United States, there are growing protectionist and manufacturing repatriation efforts. From the point of view of large corporations, the perception of risk derived from the suspension and rupture of global production chains emerges thanks to measures to prevent infection. Somehow, governments and companies can converge on understanding the world market as a growing source of risk and decreasing advantages. The counterpoint here may be China's interest and ability to lead the fight against the pandemic and post-pandemic recovery, restructuring the global order built in the last forty years in new institutional basis and from which it has been the main beneficiary.

Under Neo-colonialism and Othering: West Papuan Case in Bonnie Etherington's The Earth Cries Out

During 1997-1998, West Papua, the most eastern part of Indonesia, is in the midst of collision between the Indonesian police and the Operasi Papua Merdeka resistance. This study aims to examine the calamity brought by the Neo-colonial power upon the land of West Papua and the forms of Othering done under the Indonesian rule as represented in Bonnie Etherington’s the Earth Cries Out by deploying Kwame Nkrumah’s Neocolonialism to reveal the existing institution that exploits the West Papuan natural resources and Gayatri Spivak’s Othering to unravel the desire of power of the Indonesian government over the West Papuan. The findings show that Neo-colonialism is represented by an international American mining company named freeport, which has become the main beneficiary of the natural resources that lays underneath the West Papuan land, affecting the minor dividens received by Indonesian government and alienate the West Papuan from the richness of their own land. It is also found that the othering process was done by the Indonesian government through the assertion of power presented by Indonesian police stationed in the area, racist remarks by the Indonesian police, job position that favors non-West Papuan people, and a case of sexual harassment towards one West Papuan character in the novel. Moreover, there is an intersecting interest between the American mining company with the Indonesian government in the West Papuan land.

Европейское зеленое движение в условиях кризиса: новые подходы

The article traces the ideological evolution of the European Green Movement from radical opposition to political conformism and pragmatism. Two fundamentally important moments characterize the development of “green” ideology in Europe: first, reliance on civil society and, second, an emergency/crisis as a necessary condition and impetus for development. Due to the belonging of the European ecological parties to the left wing of the traditional political spectrum, there is a convergence of political positions of the “Greens” and “Leftists” in Europe: nowadays, the party programs of the “Greens” are predominantly socio-ecological in nature. They are based on the Sustainable Development concept adopted in 1992 by the states of the world, which “reconciles” the environment with the economy. On the example of the German environmental party “Union 90/Greens”– the largest and most influential ecological party in the world – one can clearly see the development vector: from an alternative (opposition) political force to the third largest party in power (following the elections to the Bundestag in 2021), which became “the progressive force of the left-center”, the stronghold of the “green bourgeoisie”. The large-scale crisis of 2019–2021 associated with the COVID-19 pandemic played into the hands of the German Greens in the sense that it significantly contributed to a shift in priorities towards “green” politics and Green Economy in Western Europe and around the world, particularly as Germany is the main mastermind and beneficiary of the Green Deal in Europe. According to this trend, all ecological parties of Western Europe benefit from the crisis and are actually becoming parties of the political mainstream.

Adaptive Business Intelligence platform and its contribution as a support in the evolution of Hospital 4.0

Abstract For many years there has been debate about what healthcare systems will look like in the future. Covid-19 has caused all Healthcare organizations to quickly adopt new solutions and evolution in this sector is a certainty. This research looks at the role that an Adaptive Business Intelligence (ABI) system can play in the evolution to a Hospital 4.0 and how it needs to evolve to achieve full integration between hospital services and the technological solutions. Thus, the first version of this system is explained and that will serve as a basis for the development of a more robust platform, with a view to a more effective environment, both for the professionals and for the main beneficiary of this type of service, the patient.

Effects of the BCEAO post-COVID-19 strategy on economic activities in Togo

The consequences of the anti-COVID-19 barrier measures have been damaging to economic activity. In order to stimulate economic recovery, BCEAO is proposing a 20% reduction in its target rate (2.5% to 2%). Our study offers a pre-assessment of the effects of this monetary policy on economic aggregates in Togo. Using a DSGE model based on the restrictions of the informal sector on access to credit, we analyze the transmission channels of the cut in the BCEAO target rate to the economy. The 20% reduction in the target rate generates a drop in the lending rate for commercial banks about nearly 3%, which stimulates investment for an additional 2% effect on GDP growth. However, growth will be mainly drained by the formal sector, the main beneficiary of the additional credit. The informal sector will even be negatively affected, assuming the substitutability of factors between sectors of activity. There is a 0.9% drop in informal employment and a 0.7% reduction in informal production. The BCEAO's recovery strategy could allow the West African countries to initiate a structural change for a better development different from the strong informal propensity one.

Methods to Mitigate Industry Influence in Industry Sponsored Research.

Medical and surgical research has always had a long-standing relationship with industry-based funding from sources, such as drug and device companies. Concerns exist surrounding the association between funding sources, outcome from studies and publication bias. Studies demonstrating increased odds ratios associated with positive results in industry sponsored studies across medicine have stimulated Cochrane reviews, literature reviews and other articles to examine this relationship further. In spine surgery in particular, studies with positive results have an odds ratio of 3.3 of being published. This article discusses the biases associated with industry sponsorship, possible ways to reduce such biases and ways to improve transparency in research relationships. This article explores the types of bias that can be encountered at different stages of research including previous trials in spine surgery. The means of improving transparency including the Physician Payment Sunshine Act of 2010 and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) accreditation are discussed. We recognize that physicians undertaking industry sponsored research should be protected and not be liable to perverse incentives. We conclude that mitigating bias in industry sponsored research is a multistep process and needs a multifaceted approach. The main beneficiary of research should be patients and as such a collective effort from medical professionals, health care institutions, journals and industry should approach research, and publications with that in mind.

Smart Buildings: Systems and Drivers

Since the 1980s, smart buildings have aroused the interest of researchers. However, there is still no consensus on what the intelligence of a building is, and what enhances that intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to identify and correlate the main drivers and systems of smart buildings, by associating them with the main beneficiaries: users, owners, and the environment. To identify the main drivers and systems of these buildings, we carried out a comprehensive, detailed, and interpretative literature search. From the selected articles, we sorted the information, extracted the main concepts and knowledge, and, finally, identified the set of potential drivers and systems. Results showed eleven drivers and eight systems, and these can be enhanced by more than one driver. By analyzing the main beneficiaries, we grouped the drivers into three categories: users, owners, and the environment. Given the lack of consensus on the key drivers that make buildings smarter, this article contributes to filling this gap by identifying them, together with the key systems. It is also relevant for detecting the relationships between drivers and systems, and pointing out which drivers have the greatest potential to affect a particular system, keeping in mind the main beneficiary.

The who, what, how of software engineering research: a socio-technical framework

Software engineering is a socio-technical endeavor, and while many of our contributions focus on technical aspects, human stakeholders such as software developers are directly affected by and can benefit from our research and tool innovations. In this paper, we question how much of our research addresses human and social issues, and explore how much we study human and social aspects in our research designs. To answer these questions, we developed a socio-technical research framework to capture the main beneficiary of a research study (the who), the main type of research contribution produced (the what), and the research strategies used in the study (how we methodologically approach delivering relevant results given the who and what of our studies). We used this Who-What-How framework to analyze 151 papers from two well-cited publishing venues---the main technical track at the International Conference on Software Engineering, and the Empirical Software Engineering Journal by Springer---to assess how much this published research explicitly considers human aspects. We find that although a majority of these papers claim the contained research should benefit human stakeholders, most focus on technical contributions without engaging humans in their studies. Although our analysis is scoped to two venues, our results suggest a need for more diversification and triangulation of research strategies. In particular, there is a need for strategies that aim at a deeper understanding of human and social aspects of software development practice to balance the design and evaluation of technical innovations. We recommend that the framework should be used in the design of future studies in order to nudge software engineering research towards explicitly including human and social concerns in their designs, and to improve the relevance of our research for human stakeholders.

Reconversión agrícola a la cebada para la producción de cerveza en Zacatecas

This article analyzes programs to convert agricultural activities to barley in Zacatecas, where the world's largest brewery is located, owned by Anheuser Busch Inbev through its subsidiary Grupo Modelo. What are the results of these programs in productive, environmental, social and political terms? Based on a review of documents and on field research that includes visits to sites of interest and interviews with farmers, public officials and representatives of Grupo Modelo, it is observed that the production of barley has a low yield and it is concluded that, although the environmental impact of this production is less severe on water resources compared to the industrial production of the brewer, this is the main beneficiary of the government subsidies, while small agricultural producers have to assume all the risks, without bargaining power over the conditions of production and the sale of barley. In addition, through these programs Grupo Modelo projects an image of corporate social responsibility.

Informed consent and mental health, mainly in Spain, EU

Introduction: Lawfully given, informed or valid consent is considered by Spanish jurisprudence a fundamental right and entails important repercussions. Method: Critical and theoretical examination of the matter, with special emphasis on the case of the most vulnerable people and those who require involuntary outpatient psychiatric treatment (IOT). Results: Valid informed consent must fulfil the requirements of capacitation, willingness, information and understanding. Timely knowledge and agreement regarding by whom and how this consent must be granted are important in biomedicine and psychology in general, as well as in the specialities of psychiatry and clinical psychology in particular. It is also important to ensure valid consent for any psychotherapy, as it generally also occurs in the case of psychopharmacological treatments. This article will revise the so-named “sliding scale” to determine mental degree of competence. This concept is especially important in order to consider whether a supposed valid consent is appropriate in vulnerable people. We will talk about living will and severe mental illness concerning valid consent. The current state of psychiatric involuntary outpatient treatment in Spain will be mentioned as well as the wills of legally incapacitated individuals, elderly people or when the carer, either an individual or institution, is the main beneficiary. Conclusions: Valid consent is necessary in every biomedical or sanitary action in general. The matter is potentially controversial if wrongful influences bear upon elderly people, incapacitated individuals and others. Keywords: Informed consent; Valid consent; Spain; Will; Severe mental illness

Cultural Foundations and Mythological Nature of Human Rights

The author claims that the concept of human rights arose on European soil as a result ofcertain cultural, political, and economic factors. Its primary base is formed by Christianideas, secularized with the dissolution of feudalism and the spread of capitalism. Inparticular, this concept synthesized the Christian ideas of God’s likeness of man and theomnipresence of God: being god-like, man, like God, may be present in all things, thoughnot in all at once. The main beneficiary was the bourgeoisie, who used personal rights todestroy feudal institutions, political rights to establish control over the state, and economicand social rights to mitigate class contradictions and distract their opponents. The religiousorigin of rights is the key to understanding their important features such as the absence oflogical basis for human rights; helplessness of the law in front of acts that undermine thefoundations of order and are marked as acts of self-realization; extraordinary diversity ofrights, etc. There are several directions of human rights criticism (conservative, moderateliberal, Marxist and Christian). All of them assume that human rights neither adequatelyreflect human nature, nor take into account some of its aspects. Indeed, man is not only anindividual seeking to choose, but also a member of a collective who needs a recognition(conservatism); a being alienated from labor and racial life (Marxism); a believer seekingto avoid sin (early Christianity) and obedient to divine will (Islam); a being who suffersfrom constant suffering and seeks to be saved from it (Buddhism); a victim of civilization,oppressed by the flow of information and the need for constant choice This inadequacyentails a destructive effect: the concept of rights creates a monochrome picture, on which,the human existence is reduced to act of will; gives rise to logical contradictions; destroysreality, monopolizing the axiological basis of cooperation; is used as a tool of submission and domination; creates an absolute justa causa; alienates from existence and formsthe basis for other levels of the mythological structure. The history of human rights is notcomplete: It seems that today humanity is on the eve of fundamental transformations,whose content and final result are difficult to predict.

HUMAN ANATOMY TUTORING PROMOTES IMPROVEMENT OF THE STUDENT'S TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS

The academic tutoring activity is understood as an educational support exercise officially instituted in Brazilian universities. The teaching‐assistant, while supporting the teaching‐learning process of fellow students who contribute to the increase in their interest in a given area, becomes the main beneficiary with the practice of tutoring. The tutoring of the Human Anatomy discipline consists of teaching, research and extension activities, thus representing an indispensable strategy for facilitating the construction and mastery of anatomical knowledge. Based on this premise, the objective of this work was to describe the role of human anatomy tutoring as a tool for improving the teaching and learning process and extending the medical course. During a year of tutoring, teaching activities were carried out using cadavers and anatomical pieces, extension activities for public and private schools, technical training activities, anatomical competitions and the teaching of anatomical dissection. It was observed that the tutoring of human anatomy in the School of Medicine of the Federal University of Ceará represents a complementary way of learning anatomy. This activity deepened the anatomical knowledge of the teaching‐assistants mainly due to the activity of dissection and assistance in practical undergraduate classes. Anatomy tutoring provided the motor development of cadaver handling skills that are important for surgical technique, developed ethical competence and respect for the relationship with death. In addition, the tutoring contributes to the continuous renovation of anatomical pieces and to the activity of visiting the anatomy laboratory by the community. It was found that the tutoring of anatomy is an important tool for the dissemination of anatomical knowledge and improvement of the teaching and learning process in the undergraduate and community in general.

Exploring Care Through Alan Bennett's The Lady in the Van: Extending Meanings, Encountering Otherness.

This article explores care relationships as they are represented within "The Lady in the Van," a sequence of interconnected texts by English writer Alan Bennett. By mainly taking the memoirs and film of the same title as primary sources, and in the light of key concepts related to care theory and aging studies, the article shows the extent to which Bennett goes beyond the accustomed portrayal of domestic relationships of care by placing himself as the protagonist of a narrative-and a relationship-in which caring for and about a complete stranger entails coming to terms with both social and personal issues. The article examines the ways in which the relationship of care portrayed by Bennett entails exploring forms of Otherness that both caring and aging unveil, which are related to age, gender, and sexuality, and that in Bennett's narrative end up favoring a dialogue of which the author himself is the main beneficiary.

Backyard Chicken Farming Role in Supplementing Household Economy of District Quetta, Pakistan

Backyard chicken farming is as an effective tool for poverty reduction in rural areas, by providing living to resource poor communities; it is an important source of extra cash income other than eggs and meat for family consumption. The present study was carried out to assess the role of backyard poultry farming in supplementing household economy of rural farmers dwelling in district Quetta, Pakistan. Information from ninety-nine randomly selected female backyard poultry farmers were gathered during November 2016 to March 2017. Owing to previous government and non-government interventions backyard poultry keeping was found as an established practice. Women were found the main custodian of backyard poultry birds and consequently were the main beneficiary of the activity. Poultry birds of Fayoumi and Golden / Rhode Island Red (RIR) breeds were the main types. Majority of the farmers reared these birds under scavenging conditions in combination with feeding on household left over dry bread (52%); most of the respondents (62%) were taking care of the birds by themselves which resulted in overall low production cost. Income included the earning received from sale of birds, eggs and the home consumption of poultry meat and eggs. Net income per annum per household was estimated as Pakistani Rupee (PKR) 79290/- (US$ 566). The estimated Rank Based Quotients (R.B.Q) based on farmers perception disclosed backyard poultry keeping as an important domestic source of meat and eggs with almost no or very little capital investment, ranked (I, 80%) followed by a substantial source of supplementary income and was ranked (II, 79%). Amongst the problems, disease outbreaks were the most prevailing problem (I, 90%) followed by unavailability of vaccines (II, 85%). The backyard poultry farming generated subsistence income and provided high quality valuable food that improved household nutrition.