Organisation For Economic Co-operation And Development Research Articles

In vivo genotoxicity testing strategies: Report from the 8th International Workshop on Genotoxicity Testing (IWGT)

AbstractThe in vivo working group (WG) considered three topics: acceptable maximum doses for negative erythrocyte micronucleus (MN) tests, validation status of MN assays in non‐hematopoietic tissues, and nuisance factors in the comet assay. The WG reached agreement on many issues, including: negative erythrocyte MN studies should be acceptable if dosing is conducted to Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) test guideline (TG) 474 recommendations and if sufficient bone marrow exposure is demonstrated; consensus on the evidence required to demonstrate “sufficient” exposure was not reached. The liver MN test using six‐week‐old rats is sufficiently validated to develop an OECD TG, but the impact of animal age warrants additional study. Ki‐67 is a reliable marker for cellular proliferation in hepatocytes. The gastrointestinal tract MN test is useful for detecting poorly absorbed or rapidly degraded aneugens, and for genotoxic metabolites formed in the colon. Although current validation data are insufficient to support the development of an OECD TG, the methodologies are sufficient to consider as an appendix to OECD TG474. Comparison of comet assay results to laboratory historical control data (HCD) should not be used in data evaluation, unless the HCD distribution is demonstrated to be stable and the predominant source of HCD variation is due to animal, not study, factors. No universally acceptable negative control limit for any tissue was identified. Methodological differences in comet studies can result in variable data interpretations; more data are required before best practice recommendations can be made. Hedgehogs alone are unreliable indicators of cytotoxicity and additional investigations into cytotoxicity markers are required.

Interdependencies between international innovation partnerships: the case of Central and Eastern Europe

PurposeCompetitively multipolar international system demands bilateral and multilateral partnerships. Joint innovation signals close partnerships. Regional proximity of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to the European Union (EU) defines its research and development objectives. These objectives are additionally subjected to the USA’s geopolitical strategy in this geographical area. Hence, CEE’s limited resources require limited resources make international innovation cooperation. This paper aims to analyse whether and how CEE countries make international innovation cooperation decisions.Design/methodology/approachThis paper used Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) database of total patent applications filed to the patent cooperation treaty (PCT) with co-applicants from abroad, where co-patents with at least one foreign inventor present a measure of international innovation partnership. A vector autoregression analysis and impulse response function were used to analyse international innovation partnership choices of eight CEE OECD countries for the period 1990–2018.FindingsInnovation with the EU is of collaborative nature, commonly displaying complementary properties with the rest of the examined innovation partners, while co-patenting with the Russia and China act as substitutes or complements. Co-patenting with Russia is the most versatile, displaying both properties of collaboration and competition. Some countries exhibit complementarity in co-patenting activities with multiple partners. The significance levels of these relationships vary, indicating varying degrees of impact. Overall, these findings highlight the complex dynamics of co-patenting activities and the influence of different partners on countries’ collaborative innovation strategies.Research limitations/implicationsIn addition to significant relationships, insignificant relationships as well as those that could bring about greater synergy are flagged in the paper. Those relationships portray possible direction into which national funds could be channelled to incite cooperation between different sectors and countries, especially as innovation partnerships are not always successful and require a long time period to materialise.Originality/valueBy examining bilateral innovation partnerships, this study provides an insight into the strategic political and economic spheres of influence in the CEE region.

Assessment of the Role of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) In Global Governance: Developing Country's Perspectives

In the world of today, both developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries have realized that they cannot achieve much on their own, hence the need for partnership or collaboration with other countries to achieve set goals. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organisation in which member countries discuss and develop key policy recommendations that often serve as the basis for international standards and practice. The paper will assess the role of the organisation and its impact on global governance. The research is doctrinal and makes use of primary and secondary sources of materials, such as journals, books, and internet materials to x-ray the organisation’s history and development from inception, its roles, and powers etcetera. The paper also considers the challenges faced by the organisation in the discharge of its functions, as well as examines how the organisations’ global governance affects the economy of countries and draws lessons that can positively impact the economy of countries. The paper concludes with some recommendations.

МЕТОДОЛОГІЧНІ ПІДХОДИ ДО ВИЗНАЧЕННЯ ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ ПРАВА НЕПЛАТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ

Insolvency law is an essential part of the legal system in any country. It serves a dual function – restoring the solvency of debtors and removing inefficient economic entities from the market. The effectiveness of insolvency law has a direct impact on a country's investment attractiveness and economic growth. This is why international economic organizations conduct assessments of national insolvency mechanisms using various approaches to define and evaluate effectiveness criteria. Despite the existence of an insolvency indicator developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the international Doing Business ranking by the World Bank became a catalyst for bankruptcy legislation reform in Ukraine in 2021. It is worth noting that each approach to evaluating the effectiveness of this area of law has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of accuracy and objectivity. The final assessments may be distorted due to biases of the compilers, which led to the cancellation of the Doing Business ranking in 2021. For Ukraine, the assessment of the effectiveness of insolvency legislation is crucial, given the importance of this institution in ensuring economic efficiency during both wartime and peacetime. It helps identify directions for improving legal regulation, including aligning Ukrainian legislation with European Union standards. This highlights the need to develop specific criteria for evaluating the practicality of legislative changes to enhance the efficiency when applied to all participants in the insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings. It should stimulate economic growth and harmonize Ukrainian legislation with European Union standards. This research analyzes various aspects of the effectiveness of insolvency legal mechanisms in Ukraine using the methodology of economic analysis of law, which has received insufficient attention in empirical studies and legislative work in Ukraine until now. The research findings will be a significant contribution to promoting effective regulation of debtor solvency restoration and preventing bankruptcy. They will also stimulate economic growth and harmonize Ukrainian legislation with European Union standards. Through the lens of interdisciplinary approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of insolvency law in Ukraine, the study proposes seven indicators for determining the economic efficiency of Ukrainian insolvency law: 1) Funds Recovery Ratio; 2) Case Processing Time; 3) Solvency Restoration Index; 4) Bankruptcy (Insolvency) Case Quantity Dynamics Index; 5) Business Climate Index; 6) Insolvency Policy Index for SMEs; 7) Legal Application Predictability Index. The proposed methodological approach allows for the assessment of the result of the formation and implementation of the state insolvency policy.

In Vitro and Anti-Inflammatory Activity Evaluation Nanofibers from a Breath Mask and Filter Based on Polyurethane and Polyvinylidene Fluoride.

Nanofiber (NF) products exhibit outstanding performances in materials science, textiles, and medicine that cannot be realized using conventional technologies. However, the safety of such products is debated because of the potential health risks that nanomaterials pose and the lack of standardized guidelines for the safety evaluation of NF products. The global safety evaluations of nanomaterials have focused on evaluating the cytotoxicity of low-dimensional materials, including nanoparticles and nanotubes, based on OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) criteria. NFs are one-dimensional materials with nanometer diameters and considerable lengths. Many fibers are applied in a densely woven web-like form, so assessing cellular penetration and fiber toxicity using the same methods is inappropriate. This study verifies the safety of the polyurethane (PU) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymers currently applied in filters and masks. To this end, polymer NFs were collected from each product, and the NFs were compared with reference samples using FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. For the safety evaluation, DMSO stocks of varying concentrations of PVDF and PU NFs (at 0.5, 1, 5, and 10 μg/mL) were prepared. The cytotoxicity and inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production and protein expression obtained via Western blot were identified.

South Korea's Medical Tourism Competitiveness and Future Strategy: Focused on Cancer Treatment: A Review.

Medical tourism is a leading industry of South Korea. Since the transition from the latest health pandemic to endemic, foreign patients have been on a rapid increase. The Korean government regards medical tourism as a major national industry and pursues medical, legal, and policy strategies with the goal of attracting 700,000 foreign patients by 2027. Examining objective data and statistics as well as academic articles, we investigated the strengths and advantages, which might persuade foreign medical tourists to visit South Korea by performing a comparative analysis with high-income or medically advanced countries among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and other competing Asian countries. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Compared with other advanced countries and Asian competitors in cancer treatment, South Korea shows excellent result of major cancers treatments, accessibility to hospitals and medical professionals, and competitiveness in terms of surgery and treatment costs. South Korea has excellent competitiveness both in price and in cancer treatment with the outstanding results of cancer mortality rates and 5-year survival rates. The achievement of Korea's cancer treatments is due to accurate diagnosis with the advantage of PET-CT, 64-sllice CT, 3.0 TESLA MRI, etc., and the use of cutting-edge equipment, such as CyberKnife and Da Vince robotic surgery. Besides, the Korean central and local governments actively support for the promotion of Korea's medical tourism industry, such as issuance of visas for foreigners, the hospital certification system, and medical tourism convergence cluster project.

Decentralisation, unfunded mandates and the regional response to the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a surge in the number and scope of governmental interventions in both centralised and decentralised states. While decentralisation theories and recent empirical studies suggest that highly decentralised systems are more resilient to shocks and cope better with adversity, other research presents inconclusive or even contradictory findings. Yet, little is still known about how decentralised governments coped with the COVID-19 health emergency. Using an original dataset of 445 regions across 26 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for 2020 and 2021, this article finds that excess mortality rates during the COVID-19 pandemic are not connected to the degree of fiscal and political decentralisation, but rather tied to the mismatch between the two dimensions, also known as unfunded mandates. Large unfunded mandates are positively associated with higher excess mortality rates during COVID-19. Fiscal and political decentralisation, by contrast, become statistically insignificant when unfunded mandates are considered. Hence, better – not more – decentralisation is needed as unfunded mandates represented a threat to the capacity of subnational authorities to address the COVID-19 emergency. In emergency situations, the dysfunctionality caused by unfunded mandates undermines the effectiveness of the response of the relevant public authorities to pressing challenges.

Acute and Sub-chronic Toxicity Evaluation of the Ethanolic Extract of Coula edulis B., (Olacaceae) Stem Bark

Aims: Coula edulis Baill., (Olacaceae) is a non-lignified forest product not well known and widely used in sub-Saharan Africa as a phytomedicine or food additive. However, the toxicity of this plant remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the safety of the ethanolic extract of C. edulis stem bark (CEE).
 Study Design: Pharmacological study.
 Place and Duration of Study: Laboratory of Nutrition and Nutritional Biochemistry, Department of Biochemistry, University of Yaounde 1 (Cameroon), between June 2018 and July 2022.
 Methodology: Studies on the assessment of acute and subchronic toxicity were carried out by guidelines 423 of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Subacute toxicity of the sample was assessed over 28 days using repeated doses by OECD Guideline 407.
 Results: No cases of death and clinical signs of toxicity were observed in the treated rats, suggesting that the LD50 of C. edulis ethanolic extract is greater than 2000 mg/kg bw. Regarding the subacute toxicity study, the administration of CEE also did not result in any changes in the course of body weight. Only a significant decrease in the relative weight of the ovaries in females at the highest dose of 600 mg/kg was observed. In males and females, CEE did not affect lipid profile markers or transaminase levels (AST, ALT). In addition, a small but non-significant (p> 0.05) increase in creatinine was observed without kidney dysfunction. In males, CEE induced an increase in mean corpuscular volume number at 600 mg/kg, while at the same time, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration decreased at the 300 mg/kg dose. In females, a significant increase in the number of monocytes, red blood cells, and hemoglobin level were observed. No difference in the levels of urea, glucose, and lipid markers was observed nor histological changes in the organs studied.
 Conclusion: As would be expected, exposure to CEE did not cause significant toxic effects in treated rats. Therefore, this plant extract can be safely recommended for therapeutic use.

Mutagenicity Assessment of Homologous Series of Methyl Ester Sulphonates (MES) Using the Bacterial Reverse Mutation (Ames) Test.

Methyl ester sulphonate (MES) is an anionic surfactant that is suitable to be used as an active ingredient in household products. Four palm-based MES compounds with various carbon chains, namely C12, C14, C16 and C16/18 MES, were assayed by the in vitro bacterial reverse mutation (Ames) test in the Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98, TA100, TA1535, and TA1537 and the Escherichia coli strain WP2 uvrA, with the aim of establishing the safety data of the compounds, specifically their mutagenicity. The test was also carried out on linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS) for comparison. The plate incorporation method was conducted according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Test Guideline 471. All compounds were tested at five analysable non-cytotoxic concentrations, varying from .001mg/plate to 5mg/plate, with and without S-9 metabolic activation. All tested concentrations showed no significant increase in the number of revertant colonies compared to revertant colonies of the negative control. The Ames test indicated that each concentration of C12, C14, C16, C16/18 MES, and LAS used in this study induced neither base-pair substitutions nor frame-shift mutations in the S. typhimurium strains TA98, TA100, TA1535, and TA1537 and the E. coli strain WP2 uvrA. The results showed that C12, C14, C16 and C16/18 MES have no potential mutagenic properties in the presence and absence of S-9 metabolic activation, similarly to LAS. Therefore, the MES is safe to be used as an alternative to petroleum-based surfactants for household cleaning products.

Two ‘Brazils’: Socioeconomic status and education performance in Brazil

In 1953 Jacques Lambert published his seminal work entitled Le Brésil, Structure sociale et institutions politiques, which in 1959 was published in Portuguese as Os Dois Brasis (in English, The Two Brazils). In this text, Lambert argues that there is a remarkable dichotomy present in Brazil, with a dynamic South and a feeble, almost sick, North-Northeast. This article does not intend to provide a new interpretation of Lambert's text; rather, our objective is to analyse the contemporary scenario of education in the Brazilian context from the perspective of social and economic inequalities as portrayed by this author. We make use of data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anisio Teixiera (INEP), and the main results demonstrate that the structure of social inequality present in the country reflects negatively on national educational indicators. We also emphasise that the connection between social inequality and educational results seems to feedback on each other, creating a vicious circle, and as such we suggest that the Brazilian unequal social structures of the past continue and endure in the present, effecting education inequalities.

Misalignment between national resource inventories and policy actions drives unevenness in the energy transition

To make projections about the future supply of minerals for the energy transition and set climate targets, it is important to understand inventories of mineral resources as well as national extraction policies. Here, we combine data on mining properties and policies between 2020 and 2023 for 18 countries with substantial resources of energy transition minerals to understand the alignment between the resource inventories and policy actions to make these mineral resources available to market. We find the distribution and near-term production-readiness of energy transition minerals varies across countries. The results show extraction policies align with demand for energy-transition minerals more strongly for countries in the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) compared with their non-OECD counterparts. We suggest these differences between countries could lead to global-scale delays in mitigating climate change and an uneven energy transition structured around national resource endowment, wealth, and inequality.

Country-Level Factors Associated With Nurse Salaries: Empirical Evidence From Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Countries and Taiwan.

Salary impacts nurse retention rates and thus is a factor affecting the nursing shortage both in Taiwan and around the world. Nurses in Taiwan earn a low salary compared with other health professionals and may be undervalued compared with their international counterparts. This study was designed to analyze the factors associated with nurse salary (NS) in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and to compare NS in Taiwan with those in OECD member states. Data were extracted from the OECD statistics database and official statistics for Taiwan. For the 28 OECD member countries considered in this study and Taiwan, 21 indicators characterizing healthcare systems, including demographics, socioeconomic status, health behaviors and risks, healthcare resources, health financing, healthcare utilization, health outcomes, and economic inequality, were examined for the period of 2009-2018. A random-effects model (REM) and a fixed-effects model (FEM) were used to investigate the associations between these indicators and annual NS levels. The expected annual NS for Taiwan was estimated and compared with the actual NS for Taiwan using the REM. In the REM, higher NS in OECD countries was shown to be positively associated with gross domestic product per capita (0.49, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.41, 0.56]), proportion of population aged 65 years and over (2.72, 95% CI [2.17, 3.26]), crude birth rate (1.02, 95% CI [0.56, 1.49]), number of computerized tomography scanners per million population (0.26, 95% CI [0.17, 0.35]), alcohol consumption per person (0.94, 95% CI [0.26, 1.61]), and prevalence of obesity (0.64, 95% CI [0.40, 0.89]) and to be in inversely associated with infant mortality rate (-3.13, 95% CI [-3.94, -2.32]), bed density (-0.99, 95% CI [-1.72, -0.25]), number of hospital discharges (-0.08, 95% CI [-0.11, -0.05]), household out-of-pocket expenditure as a percentage of health expenditure (-0.34, 95% CI [-0.56, -0.11]), and the Gini coefficient (-0.25, 95% CI [-0.50, -0.01]). The FEM results were similar to those of the REM. The predicted annual NS for Taiwan based on the REM rose from 29,390 U.S. dollars (corrected for purchasing power parity; 95% CI [22,532, 36,247]) in 2009 to 49,891 U.S. dollars (95% CI [42,344, 57,438]) in 2018. The actual annual NS in Taiwan in 2018 was approximately 12% lower than the model-predicted value. Taiwan has a lower NS compared with its OECD counterparts. These findings may help policymakers, healthcare managers, and nurse organizations develop effective strategies to improve the remuneration system for nurses in Taiwan.

The 1963 OECD Model Tax Convention: Now and Then

This article reviews the importance of the 1963 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Model Tax Convention in the development of the current international bilateral treaties network and compares its principles to those found in the US model tax convention. It then shows how the 1963 OECD model has laid the foundations for the OECD’s Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI) agreed on by more than over 100 jurisdictions. US model, OECD model, MLI, tax treaties, international tax, tax history

The Effect of Education and Health as Fundamentals of Human Capital on Global Competition: A Panel Data Analysis on OECD Countries

The aim of the current study is to analyze the effect of education and health as the main elements of human capital on global competition in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries using the Granger Panel Causality Test. Accordingly, in the application part of the study, with the data obtained from the World Economic Forum (WEF), the World Bank (WB), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) databases, a panel data set was established for 18 OECD countries for which healthy data could be reached for the period of 2004-2018. As a result of the analysis, a causality relationship was determined between each variable representing education and health as the basic elements of human capital and the global competition for short term. When the results of the Westerlund (2007) panel cointegration test were examined, it was seen that there is a long-term relationship between the Global Competitiveness Index (gci) variable and all the other variables except for variables h1 and h2.

Assessment of Biological Activities, Acute and Sub-chronic Toxicity of Liang (Gnetum gnemon var. tenerum) Leaves Powder, a Natural Product.

Gnetum gnemon var. tenerum (Gnetaceae) is a shrub plant native to South-East Asia. In Thailand, Liang leaves are commonly consumed in South of Thailand as vegetable. According to literature, they have an antihyperglycemic capacity because of their rich chlorophyll, fiber, and protein. However, there is need to assess the safety since natural food products are not completely devoid of toxicity. This study aimed to assess the biological activities as well as the acute and sub-chronic oral toxicity of Liang leaves powder (LLP). The evaluation of LLP for acute oral toxicity was performed at dose level 2000 mg/kg body weight in Wistar rats while the sub-chronic oral toxicity of LLP was performed at the effective dose (1.47 g/kg) for antihyperglycemic property according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-425. The results showed that LLP demonstrated anti-inflammatory activities. It also showed no clinical signs of toxic effects and mortality in rats throughout 90 d. Thus, LLP could be classified in GHS category 5 which are of relatively low acute toxicity and then the lethal dose, 50% (LD50) cut off at 5000 mg/kg body weight to infinity (∞). Administration of LLP to the experimental rats significantly increased (p < 0.05) the concentration of triglyceride and increased concentration of creatinine as a result of kidney malfunction was also noticed in the experimental rats. Hematological alteration was not noticed in the treated female rats, but red blood cell, hemoglobin and hematocrit concentrations significantly increased in the treated male rats. The study concludes that sub-chronic administration of 1.47 g/kg LLP is relatively safe.

Estimation of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activity from the Soil Samples of Ganderbal and Budgam Districts of Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abstract The study of radionuclides is very important in our daily life as these impose health implications to the general public. In present study the estimation of radionuclides in Ganderbal and Budgam districts of Kashmir Province using NaI(Tl) gamma-ray spectro-meter has been carried out. Radium, thorium, and potassium activity concentrations have been observed to range from 25±3 to 33±5 Bqkg−1, 3±2 to 11±3 Bqkg−1 and 415±63 to 601±80 Bqkg−1with average values of 29 Bqkg−1, 5 Bqkg−1 and 514 Bqkg−1, respectively. The radium equivalent activity (Raeq) for the soil samples has been evaluated and was found in the range of 107 to128 Bqkg−1 with the mean value of 116 Bqkg−1. It has been inferred that the radium equivalent activity (Raeq) lies in the permissible limits of 370 Bqkg−1 set by United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Absorbed dose and annual effective dose (indoor and outdoor) values were found to vary from 34 to 43 nGyh−1, 0.17 to 0.21 mSv and 0.04 to 0.05 mSv, respectively. Also, hazard indices (external and internal) are calculated from the specific concentration of radium, thorium and potassium which are found less than unity as recommended by organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD). Therefore, it can be concluded that the present study area does not pose any health implication to the general public.

Globalisation and carbon dioxide emissions inequality in OECD countries

AbstractEconomic growth has been crucial in contributing to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the Industrial Revolution, and it affects CO2 emissions heterogeneously with different income levels. Therefore, studying the role of economic growth on inequality in carbon emissions is imperative. This paper analyses the determinants of CO2 emissions inequality in the panel dataset of 37 Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries from 1990 to 2019. Age dependency, globalisation, and institutional quality reduce CO2 inequality in the OECD economies. However, gross domestic product per capita increases CO2 inequality. The results are robust to utilise different panel data estimation techniques. This paper provides the first evidence in the literature of determinants of CO2 inequality across the OECD countries. It is suggested that governments in the OECD economies offer a blueprint for a sustainable society of green economic growth. Other potential policy implications are also discussed.

Coherence and fragmentation: Global influences on Nordic and East Asian teacher policies

We investigated patterns of teacher policy reforms in eight countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden in the Nordic group and Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan in East Asia. Using the Reforms Finder of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Education Reform Database (WERD) to identify teacher-related reforms, we found all nations focused on the improvement of teacher quality as a common vision for education, but no nation implemented a “coherent” set of policies that addressed all phases of teacher professional trajectories. Some regional effects in policy emphasis with regard to education, certification, working conditions and long-term professional development were noted.

A statistical examination of the link between environmental performance and legal practices: an evaluation of China’s strategies for residual legislative power allocation

This study investigates the correlation between the environmental legal practices of different countries and their environmental performance. It entails an empirical analysis of cross-sectional environmental data collected from 34 countries, including members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the BRICs nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). Then the study explores the correlation between a country’s environmental performance and both the environmental policy stringency and regulatory enforcement. The findings from this global assessment are subsequently corroborated through an examination of China’s environmental time series data spanning a decade, revealing a significant relationship between a country’s environmental performance and regulatory enforcement. These results validate the Incomplete Law Theory within the field of environmental law. Moreover, as the second most populous and the third-largest country in terms of land area globally, China’s environmental protection strategies and performance play a pivotal role in influencing international environmental outcomes. Consequently, the study conducts a case study on China’s environmental legal practices and provides suggestions for enhancing China’s allocation strategies of residual legislative power. The study advocates for the optimization of residual legislative power allocation within local environmental law enforcement agencies and a balanced distribution of public and private residual legislative power. This approach reinforces the government’s role in strategic formulation.

Global Burden and Trends of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Attributable to High Body Mass Index in 38 OECD Countries between 1990-2019: A Benchmarking Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a significant cause of mortality and disability, ranking 17th among leading causes of death and 15th among leading causes of disability among all cancers in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Current evidence suggests a potential association between a high body mass index (BMI) and an increased risk of AML and other cancers. However, the impact of high BMI on AML burden may vary due to factors such as geographical location, lifestyle, genetic predisposition, and changes in obesity rates over time. This study aimed to assess the burden of AML attributable to high BMI in 38 OECD countries from 1990 to 2019. Method: The methodology employed the Global Burden of Disease approach, analyzing AML deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to high BMI across age groups, sexes, and years in the 38 OECD countries using standardized methods and statistical modeling. The results were reported in absolute counts and age-standardized rates (per 100,000 person-years). Results: The study found that the total number of AML deaths attributable to high BMI increased from 1,625 (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 726-2,831) in 1990 to 4,295 (95% UI: 2,094-7,105) in 2019, while DALYs increased from 43,467 (95% UI: 19,649-75,434) to 96,289 (95% UI: 47,925-157,090) between 1990 and 2019. The age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) rose from 0.13 (95% UI: 0.06-0.22) to 0.19 (95% UI: 0.09-0.31) cases per 100,000 during the same period, and the age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDALR) increased from 3.47 (95% UI: 1.57-6) to 4.83 (95% UI: 2.43-7.83) cases per 100,000 persons. Notably, Colombia experienced the highest increase in the annual percentage of change (APC) in total AML deaths (474%), followed by South Korea (398%), and Costa Rica (315%), while Latvia showed the lowest increase of 16% from 1990 to 2019. Concerning DALYs, Colombia had the highest APC increase (391%), followed by Costa Rica (268%) and Mexico (246%), while Latvia observed a 2% decrease in APC from 1990 to 2019. Switzerland and Denmark showed decreases in APC for ASMR (6% and 9%, respectively) from 1990 to 2019, and Finland, Japan, Denmark, and Switzerland demonstrated decreases in APC for ASDALR (4%, 6%, 18%, and 20%, respectively). The United States reported the highest number of AML deaths (1,575) and DALYs (35,063) attributable to high BMI in 2019. Individuals aged 70-74 years had the highest number of deaths (709, 95% UI: 356-1,168) and DALYs (13,762, 95% UI: 6,939-22,564) in 2019 in OECD countries. Additionally, males showed higher deaths and DALYs compared to females due between 1990 and 2019. Conclusion: The burden of AML attributed to high BMI has continued to rise in the majority of countries over the past three decades. As obesity is a modifiable risk factor, effective preventive strategies, counseling for high-risk individuals, and coordinated efforts by healthcare professionals and policymakers are essential to implement interventions across OECD countries. Given obesity's significance as a modifiable risk factor for various cancers, urgent action is needed to address this public health challenge.