Two-way Link Research Articles

An updated medical history form for people living with diabetes mellitus.

The two-way link between diabetes mellitus and periodontitis is well-recognised, that there is an increased risk of periodontitis for diabetics and is probably related to inflammatory reactions, although further work is required to confirm this hypothesis.Traditionally, dentists have asked their patients if they are diabetic with a simple yes/no question. As more people become diabetic and often have associated complex health problems, this is insufficient information. Glycated haemoglobin levels have been shown to be important in defining diabetic risks. Dentists should be aware of their significance and ask for these results as a matter of routine. More comprehensive questions are suggested.

In what way can worldwide robotics and artificial intelligence encourage development in green crypto investments? An implementation of a model-free connectedness technique

PurposeThis study aims to investigate connections between the development of robotic and artificial intelligence (AI) and green crypto investments. The author also explores the influences of global uncertainty shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic and international conflicts on the role of each channel.Design/methodology/approachIn this research, the author uses a cutting-edge model-free connectedness approach to investigate the relationships between the development of Global X Robotics and AI (BOTZ) and the volatility of green crypto investments from November 9, 2017 to March 24, 2023.FindingsIn the sample duration, the findings reveal a two-way link between AI and green/nongreen cryptocurrencies. Throughout the examined period, BOTZ has been a net receiver of shocks as determined by the net total connectedness. Among the main spillover shock carriers in the system, green cryptocurrencies are the most significant. The net pairwise directional connectivity reveals that green cryptocurrencies controlled BOTZ throughout the analyzed time, particularly during the COVID-19 era as well as the Ukraine–Russia crisis. According to the findings, the proposed system is vulnerable to a high level of indication influence.Practical implicationsThe results have important policy implications for investors and governments, as well as methods from the spillovers across the various indicators and their interconnections. Sharp information on the primary contagions among these indicators aids politicians in designing the most appropriate policies.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to look at the link between AI, technological advancement and green cryptocurrency investing. Second, this study developed a methodology for examining instability links between various factors that is more appropriate for investigating these linkages. This study investigates the links between AI, technical advancement and green digital currencies using a cutting-edge model-free connectivity method. This work is also the first to examine the interconnection between volatility derived from AI, technological development and green cryptocurrency investments in light of unknown events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian–Russian conflict. Finally, this study includes a daily database from the BOTZ fund, which attempts to invest in firms that stand to gain from rising robotics and AI use. Cardano (ADA), IOTA, NANO (XNO), Stellar Lumens and Tron are examples of green cryptocurrencies, whereas Bitcoin is an example of a nongreen cryptocurrency. These virtual currencies are being used to investigate the relationship between investor mood and green and nongreen digital currencies. The data set spans the period from November 9, 2017 to March 24, 2023.

Exploring the Two-Way Link between Migraines and Venous Thromboembolism: A Bidirectional Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study.

The objective of this study is to utilize Mendelian randomization to scrutinize the mutual causality between migraine and venous thromboembolism (VTE) thereby addressing the heterogeneity and inconsistency that were observed in prior observational studies concerning the potential interrelation of the two conditions. Employing a bidirectional Mendelian randomization approach, the study explored the link between migraine and VTE, incorporating participants of European descent from a large-scale meta-analysis. An inverse-variance weighted (IVW) regression model, with random-effects, leveraging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables was utilized to endorse the mutual causality between migraine and VTE. SNP heterogeneity was evaluated using Cochran's Q-test and to account for multiple testing, correction was implemented using the intercept of the MR-Egger method, and a leave-one-out analysis. The IVW model unveiled a statistically considerable causal link between migraine and the development of VTE (odds ratio [OR] = 96.155, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.342-2129.458, p = 0.004), implying that migraine poses a strong risk factor for VTE development. Conversely, both IVW and simple model outcomes indicated that VTE poses as a weaker risk factor for migraine (IVW OR = 1.002, 95% CI: 1.000-1.004, p = 0.016). The MR-Egger regression analysis denoted absence of evidence for genetic pleiotropy among the SNPs while the durability of our Mendelian randomization results was vouched by the leave-one-out sensitivity analysis. The findings of this Mendelian randomization assessment provide substantiation for a reciprocal causative association between migraine and VTE within the European population.

Conceptualising the Link between Citizen Science and Climate Governance: A Systematic Review

Multilevel and decentralised governance approaches involving different social actors are increasingly relevant to collectively tackling climate-induced vulnerabilities. Among emergent governance experimentations, citizen science (CS) is a transversal scientific practice characterised by the involvement of citizens in various phases of the scientific process. We performed a PRISMA systematic review of the scientific literature in order to conceptualise the interface between CS and climate governance. The included 44 studies were coded following the thematic analysis method. Information about temporal and geographical distribution, main research designs and methods, climate governance domains and levels of analysis was extracted. Among the most significant results, we stress the existence of a two-way link between CS and climate governance: CS beyond data gathering can facilitate climate change adaptation—namely, counteracting disaster risk, food insecurity and mental health distress due to changing climate, promoting health and wellbeing, and environmental conservation—until systemic changes are made. Conversely, inclusive governance structures and processes may provide support to initiate CS projects. We also discuss the role of psychosocial and justice issues—as well as digital CS—throughout the selected literature, and the implications for future lines of research and policy.

Proposal for a realtime Einstein-synchronization-defined satellite virtual clock

Abstract The realization of high performance satellite onboard clock is vital for various PNT applications. For further improvement of the synchronization-based satellite time and frequency references, this paper proposes a geosynchronous (GEO) satellite virtual clock concept based on ground–satellite synchronization and presents a beacon transponder structure for its implementation (scheduled for launch in 2025), which does not require atomic clocks to be mounted on the satellite. Its high performance relies only on minor modifications to the existing transponder structure of GEO satellites. We carefully modeled the carrier phase link and analyzed the factors causing link asymmetry within the special relativity. Considering that the performance of such synchronization-based satellite clocks is primarily limited by the link’s random phase noise, which cannot be adequately modeled, we designed a closed-loop experiment based on commercial GEO satellites for pre-evaluation. This experiment was aimed at extracting the zero-means random part of the ground-satellite Ku-band carrier phase via a feedback loop. Ultimately, we obtained a 1σ value of 0.633 ps (two-way link), following the Gaussian distribution. From this result, we conclude that the proposed real-time Einstein-synchronization-defined satellite virtual clock can achieve picosecond-level replication of onboard time and frequency.

Current scientific evidence for why periodontitis should be included in diabetes management.

This Perspective provides a brief summary of the scientific evidence for the two-way links between periodontal diseases and hyperglycemia (diabetes mellitus [DM] and pre-DM). It delivers in a nutshell current scientific evidence for manifestations of hyperglycemia on periodontal health status and effects of periodontal diseases on blood glucose levels and in turn incidence, progression, and complications of diabetes. Of outmost importance is presentation of scientific evidence for the potential of routine periodontal treatment to lower blood glucose levels, providing a novel, economical tool in DM management. Non-surgical periodontal treatment ("deep cleaning") can be provided by dental hygienists or dentists in general dental offices, although severe cases should be referred to specialists. Such therapy can decrease the costs of DM care and other health care costs for people with DM. The great importance of a healthy oral cavity free of infection and subsequent inflammation - especially periodontitis that if untreated will cause loosening and eventually loss of affected teeth - has largely gone unnoticed by the medical community as the health care curricula are largely void of content regarding the bi-directional links between oral health and systemic health, despite elevation of blood glucose levels being an integral part of the general systemic inflammation response. The importance of keeping disease-free, natural teeth for proper biting and chewing, smiling, self-esteem, and pain avoidance cannot be overestimated. Medical and dental professionals are strongly encouraged to collaborate in patient-centered care for their mutual patients with - or at risk for - hyperglycemia.

Bidirectional associations between hearing difficulty and cognitive function in Chinese adults: a longitudinal study.

Middle-aged and older adults frequently experience hearing loss and a decline in cognitive function. Although an association between hearing difficulty and cognitive function has been demonstrated, its temporal sequence remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated whether there are bidirectional relationships between hearing difficulty and cognitive function and explored the mediating role of depressive symptoms in this relationship. We used the cross-lagged panel model and the random-intercept cross-lagged panel model to look for any possible two-way link between self-reported hearing difficulty and cognitive function. To investigate depressive symptoms' role in this association, a mediation analysis was conducted. The sample was made up of 4,363 adults aged 45 and above from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS; 2011-2018; 44.83% were women; mean age was 56.16 years). One question was used to determine whether someone had a hearing impairment. The tests of cognitive function included episodic memory and intelligence. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, which consists of 10 items, was used to measure depressive symptoms. A bidirectional association between hearing and cognition was observed, with cognition predominating (Wald χ2 (1) = 7.241, p < 0.01). At the between-person level, after controlling for potential confounders, worse hearing in 2011 predicted worse cognitive function in 2013 (β = -0.039, p < 0.01) and vice versa (β = -0.041, p < 0.01) at the between-person level. Additionally, there was no corresponding cross-lagged effect of cognitive function on hearing difficulty; rather, the more hearing difficulty, the greater the cognitive decline at the within-person level. According to the cross-lagged mediation model, depressive symptoms partially mediates the impact of cognitive function on subsequent hearing difficulty (indirect effect: -0.003, bootstrap 95% confidence interval: -0.005, -0.001, p < 0.05), but not the other way around. These results showed that within-person relationships between hearing impairment and cognitive function were unidirectional, while between-person relationships were reciprocal. Setting mental health first may be able to break the vicious cycle that relates hearing loss to cognitive decline. Comprehensive long-term care requires services that address depressive symptoms and cognitive decline to be integrated with the hearing management.

Resource interaction in smallholder farms is linked to farm sustainability: evidence from Indian Sundarbans

Efficient resource utilization in small-scale farms is crucial to achieving farm sustainability through endogenous mechanisms. However, the precise mechanisms to integrate farm resources to achieve farm sustainability are not very clear yet. By capturing the interaction among farm resources as a network phenomenon, we aimed to identify the discrete resource interactions (RIs) associated with higher farm sustainability in different farm types of Indian Sundarbans. First, we assessed the sustainability of 140 integrated farms using a synthesized assessment framework. Then, we considered four network motifs, namely linkage (a one-way link between two resources), reciprocal linkage (a two-way link between two resources), triad (three resources having closed interconnectedness), and the presence of a farm resource at the core of a network. Using RI network data of 140 farms and employing a graph theoretic approach we identified discrete network motifs (i.e., resource interaction) associated with highly sustainable farms in different farm types. We found a predominance of rice, vegetables and pond-based integration and identified 32 linkages, 11 reciprocal linkages, 21 triads, and three resources at the network core that occurred and co-occurred on highly sustainable farms, and thus critical to achieving farm sustainability. Further, multivariate analyses established that the properties of RI networks could explain farm sustainability significantly. We anticipate that sustainability in small-scale farms can be achieved by strategically designing new RIs on the farm. However, there may be limitations to such achievement depending on the nature of RI and the type of farm.

Autoimmunity and Infection in Glomerular Disease.

The ongoing glomerular damage of infections is not limited to the most widely known form of post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, which is today less common in the Western world; other forms of glomerulonephritis are associated with several bacterial, viral and parasitic pathogens. The mechanisms responsible range from the direct damage of glomerular cells to the formation and deposition of immunocomplexes to molecular mimicry to the secretion of superantigens. Similarly, in the course of glomerular disease, infections are more frequent than in the general population due to the loss of immunoglobulins in urine and the immunosuppressive agents used to treat the autoimmune disease that decrease the activity of the immune system. Recognizing this two-way link, understanding its pathogenetic mechanism, and identifying the most appropriate therapeutic choice are essential for the personalized management of patients. In this continuously developing field, this short review summarizes the current state of the art as support for physicians, who are increasingly involved in managing patients with glomerular disease and infections.

The effect of beer label design on customer purchase behavior

The brewing industry and its products represent an important economic indicator in the Czech Republic through which the health of the economy can be assessed. A significant problem can be seen in the regulation of marketing communication on the products of breweries by legislation. For this reason, there is a big boom in the creativity of beer labels and their impact on potential customers. The level and creativity of the label design reflect the perceived tradition of the brand, and vice-versa the influence of tradition on the design can be assumed – therefore a two-way link can be considered. The main objective of the paper is to find out potential factors, which influence customers’ purchase decision-making process in retail. The beer labels are considered a key marketing communication element, on which base target customers usually choose and buy beer. The research was realized by repertory grid (RG), on which participated young people, during September 2023. The RG concept was employed in 24 mini-focus groups (MFG) where respondents identified possible influencing factors of three beers’ labels on their potential purchase behavior. In realized 24 MFGs, there participated 3-6 members (a total of 119 persons). According to answers in the RG we defined seven influencing groups of factors with defined poles.

BDS-3 RDSS two-way time transfer with asymmetric delay compensation model

In the BeiDou navigation satellite system-3 (BDS-3) radio determination satellite service (RDSS), there exists a natural two-way link between the center station and the user site that can be used to achieve time transfer. Traditionally, RDSS two-way time transfer is realized by analogy with the two-way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) technique. However, unlike TWSTFT, the signal propagation delays are not completely symmetrical in the RDSS two-way link because of the differences in signal emission time. In this study, a model of two-way time transfer with BDS-3 RDSS is presented. An asymmetric delay compensation method is introduced to solve the asymmetry of RDSS signals and improve the accuracy of two-way time transfer. In addition, BDS-3 RDSS common clock difference experiments are designed to test the performance of two-way time transfer with an asymmetric delay compensation model. Based on analyses of the experimental results, three conclusions can be drawn. First, the accuracy of RDSS two-way time transfer is improved when the asymmetric delay compensation model is applied. Second, BDS-3 RDSS two-way time transfers in different in-station beams and subbands do not show many discrepancies on the whole, and the standard deviation values of the BDS-3 RDSS time transfer results range from 1.7 ns to 2.6 ns for the test signals. Third, the two-way time transfer results are not generally affected by receiver coordinate errors.

Wikipedia bi-linear link (WBLM) model: A new approach for measuring semantic similarity and relatedness between linguistic concepts using Wikipedia link structure

Wikipedia links its articles by manually defined semantic relations called the Wikipedia hyperlink (link) structure. The existing Wikipedia link-based semantic similarity (SS) and semantic relatedness (SR) computation models, such as Wikipedia one-way link (WOLM) model and Wikipedia two-way link (WTLM) model, do not assess the strengths of the relationships between a candidate concept and its links (out-links or in-links). These models treat all the links as equally important even though some links are semantically more influential than others and should be given more importance. This phenomenon reduces the accuracy of these models. This paper presents the Wikipedia bi-linear link (WBLM) model that extends the previously proposed WOLM and WTLM models. The WBLM model explores the Wikipedia link structure as a semantic graph and discovers the strongly (bi-linear links) and weakly (out-links or in-links) connected links of a candidate concept. It improves the link-based vector representations of concepts by assigning weights to their connected links according to the strengths of their semantic associations. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed WBLM model significantly improves the SS and SR computation accuracy of the WOLM model (6.9%, 8%, 24%, 17.3%, 31.2%, 30.6%, 26.5%, and 35.4%) and WTLM model (1.2%, 3.9%, 7.1%, 9.9%, 11%, 6.3%, 12.7%, and 13%), in terms of linear correlations with human judgments on gold standard benchmarks, including MC30, RG65, WS203, SimLex, 353All, MTurk287, MTurk771, and MEN3000, respectively. Moreover, this research offers a deep insight into the Wikipedia link structure and provides an adequate base for understanding it as a semantic graph.

Stand-Alone, Affordable IoT Satellite Terminals and Their Opportunistic Use for Rain Monitoring

Internet of Things (IoT) communication via satellite is an important emerging technology, which is essential for a variety of applications such as agriculture, financial technology, and homeland security in rural or isolated areas. In this article, we deal with two-way low cost, stand-alone IoT satellite terminals communicating over geostationary satellites at Ku-band frequencies, already deployed in isolated areas in Africa and South America. On top of their designated use for specific IoT applications, we suggest using such terminals for opportunistic rain monitoring, based on the two-way link quality measurements that are being regularly collected for network management purposes. The local <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$E_{s}/N_{0}$</tex> measurements are transmitted to the cloud, where their transformation to rain-intensity estimates is carried out. We present preliminary results using real measurements, showing good agreement with direct rainfall measurements recorded by a rain gauge. Enabling this feature in two-way communication of IoT satellite terminals is beneficial, as it will provide the ability to monitor the rain in areas where designated weather monitoring equipment is sparse, helping to improve local weather-based applications in such areas, and to better track the climate change globally.

Geosynchronous satellites expanding a future GNSS satellite constellation: A precise orbit determination study

The integration of geosynchronous orbit (GSO) satellites in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is mostly discussed to enable a regional enhancement for tracking. But how do GSO satellites affect the orbit determination of the rest of the constellation? How accurately can these orbits be determined in a future GNSS tracking scenario with optical links? In this simulation study we analyze the benefit of GSO satellites as an expansion of a MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) satellite constellation – we selected the Galileo satellite constellation – for MEO Precise Orbit Determination (POD). We address not only the impact on POD of MEO satellites but also the possibility to precisely determine the GSO satellites – geostationary orbits (GEO) and inclined geosynchronous orbits (IGSO) – in such an expanded MEO constellation. In addition to GNSS microwave observations, we analyze the influence of different optical links between the participating entities: Optical two-way Inter-Satellite Links (OISL) and ground-space oriented Optical Two-Way Links (OTWL). These optical measurements together with the GNSS microwave observations give a remarkable benefit for the POD capability. In the case of GNSS and OTWL, we simulate the measurements with regard to a network of 16 ground stations. We pay great attention to the simulation of systematic effects of all measurement techniques. We discuss the influence on the systematic errors as well as the formal orbit uncertainties. A MEO constellation expanded with GSO satellites as well as the use of optical links together with GNSS observations not only improves the MEO satellite orbits but also the GSOs to a great extent.

How Do Industrial Ecology, Energy Efficiency, and Waste Recycling Technology (Circular Economy) Fit into China’s Plan to Protect the Environment? Up to Speed

The challenges of environmental protection are especially prevalent in South and Southeast Asian nations, which adversely affects their sustainable developmental goals. During the last two decades, increased industrialization and urbanization have caused massive air pollution, particularly in the most industrialized and densely populated countries. Due to China’s fast economic expansion and development, the demand for natural resources has increased, resulting in climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and environmental risks. China’s ecological footprint has been the subject of little investigation on the premises of a circular economy. This study used a literature review methodology on the critical key factors that hinder or facilitate the transition of a linear economy towards a circular economy. Further, based on the literature review, this study used industrial ecology, energy efficiency, and waste recycling technology factors to analyze the role of the circular economy on the country’s environmental sustainability agenda for the period of 1975–2020. The results show that in the short run, the link between ecological footprints and per capita income is monotonically decreasing; however, in the long run, the relationship is U-shaped. In both the short and long run, waste recycling technology and cleaner manufacturing significantly decrease ecological footprints. Renewable energy consumption increases ecological footprints in the short run but decreases them in the long run. The management of natural resources reduces ecological footprints to support the ‘resource blessing’ hypothesis. The Granger causality corroborated the unidirectional relationship between ecological footprints, oil rents, and urbanization and ecological footprints. In addition, economic growth Granger causes industrialization and waste recycling technology while green energy Granger causes economic growth, industrialization, and recycling technology. The two-way link between economic development and urbanization exists within a nation. The variance decomposition analysis (VDA) predicts that in the future, China’s natural resources, green energy demand, and technological spillover will limit its ecological footprint through material and technology efficiency.

Artificial Aesthetics and Aesthetic Machine Attention

The aesthetics of artificial intelligence is often viewed in relation to the qualities of their generated expressions. However, aesthetics could have a broader role in developing machine perception. One of the main areas of expertise in aesthetics is the understanding of feature-based information, which involves how the aesthetics of sensory features can cause affective changes in the perceiver, and the other way around – how affective states can give rise to certain kinds of aesthetic features. This two-way link between aesthetic features and affects is not yet well-established in the interdisciplinary discussion; however, according to perceptual psychology, it fundamentally constructs the human experience. Machine attention is an emerging technique in machine learning that is most often used in tasks like object detection, visual question answering, and language translation. Modern use of technology most often focuses on creating object-based attention through linguistic categories, although the models could also be utilized for nonverbal attention. This paper proposes the following perceptual conditions for aesthetic machine attention: 1) acknowledging that something appears (aesthetic detection); 2) suspension of judgment (aesthetic recognition); and 3) making the incident explicit with expression (aesthetic identification and amplification). These aspects are developed through an interdisciplinary reflection of literature from the fields of aesthetics, perceptual psychology, and machine learning. The paper does not aim to give a general account of aesthetic perception but to expand the interdisciplinary theory of aesthetics and specify the role of aesthetics among other disciplines at the heart of the technological development of the human future. Article received: May 10, 2022; Article accepted: July 15, 2022; Published online: October 15, 2022; Original scholarly paper

Recommendations for interoperability among infrastructures

The BiCIKL project is born from a vision that biodiversity data are most useful if they are presented as a network of data that can be integrated and viewed from different starting points. BiCIKL’s goal is to realise that vision by linking biodiversity data infrastructures, particularly for literature, molecular sequences, specimens, nomenclature and analytics. To make those links we need to better understand the existing infrastructures, their limitations, the nature of the data they hold, the services they provide and particularly how they can interoperate. In light of those aims, in the autumn of 2021, 74 people from the biodiversity data community engaged in a total of twelve hackathon topics with the aim to assess the current state of interoperability between infrastructures holding biodiversity data. These topics examined interoperability from several angles. Some were research subjects that required interoperability to get results, some examined modalities of access and the use and implementation of standards, while others tested technologies and workflows to improve linkage of different data types. These topics and the issues in regard to interoperability uncovered by the hackathon participants inspired the formulation of the following recommendations for infrastructures related to (1) the use of data brokers, (2) building communities and trust, (3) cloud computing as a collaborative tool, (4) standards and (5) multiple modalities of access: If direct linking cannot be supported between infrastructures, explore using data brokers to store links Cooperate with open linkage brokers to provide a simple way to allow two-way links between infrastructures, without having to co-organize between many different organisations Facilitate and encourage the external reporting of issues related to their infrastructure and its interoperability. Facilitate and encourage requests for new features related to their infrastructure and its interoperability. Provide development roadmaps openly Provide a mechanism for anyone to ask for help Discuss issues in an open forum Provide cloud-based environments to allow external participants to contribute and test changes to features Consider the opportunities that cloud computing brings as a means to enable shared management of the infrastructure. Promote the sharing of knowledge around big data technologies amongst partners, using cloud computing as a training environment Invest in standards compliance and work with standards organisations to develop new, and extend existing standards Report on and review standards compliance within an infrastructure with metrics that give credit for work on standard compliance and development Provide as many different modalities of access as possible Avoid requiring personal contacts to download data Provide a full description of an API and the data it serves If direct linking cannot be supported between infrastructures, explore using data brokers to store links Cooperate with open linkage brokers to provide a simple way to allow two-way links between infrastructures, without having to co-organize between many different organisations Facilitate and encourage the external reporting of issues related to their infrastructure and its interoperability. Facilitate and encourage requests for new features related to their infrastructure and its interoperability. Provide development roadmaps openly Provide a mechanism for anyone to ask for help Discuss issues in an open forum Provide cloud-based environments to allow external participants to contribute and test changes to features Consider the opportunities that cloud computing brings as a means to enable shared management of the infrastructure. Promote the sharing of knowledge around big data technologies amongst partners, using cloud computing as a training environment Invest in standards compliance and work with standards organisations to develop new, and extend existing standards Report on and review standards compliance within an infrastructure with metrics that give credit for work on standard compliance and development Provide as many different modalities of access as possible Avoid requiring personal contacts to download data Provide a full description of an API and the data it serves Finally, the hackathons were an ideal meeting opportunity to build, diversify and extend the BiCIKL community further, and to ensure the alignment of the community with a common vision on how best to link data from specimens, samples, sequences, taxonomic names and taxonomic literature.

Analysis of the nexus between country risk, environmental policies, and human development

There is currently a two-way link between financial risk and climate change. International agreements on climate change involve more sustainable practices regarding the use of renewable energy and the removal of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to which end there is a need for good access to finance. The aim of this research is to carry out an in-depth analysis of said relationship in order to provide decision-makers with additional information to guide the development of the most appropriate policies for each territory. First, the analysis focuses on whether economic and financial capacity is a sufficient and necessary condition for the implementation of pro-climate policies, using a sample of 55 countries spanning all continents. Second, this paper proposes a synthetic index that can be used to jointly assess climate change and country risk, before then determining whether the position reached by a country with respect to the index is similar to its relative level of human development. The research draws on the Climate Change Performance Index, Country Risk Score and Human Development Index, all corresponding to 2018. The results show that good performance in tackling climate change requires adequate economic and financial capacity, although this alone is not sufficient. The USA, Canada and Australia enjoy an economically advantageous position and yet they need to intensify their efforts in terms of policies that support the electricity supply from renewable energy and the reduction of GHG emissions. It is also concluded that good living conditions help drive climate change action and financial market access.

A new at-grade transportation network without conflict movement at intersections

This research aims to propose a new form of transportation network, the Chet network, to facilitate vehicular flow within a new area of built environment. One- and two-way links are uniquely arranged to form hexagonal blocks, such that vehicles can move from one place to another without facing any conflict in movement at intersections. The proposed network maintains a low-cost at-grade infrastructure, but does not require stop signs or traffic signals, which can delay traffic. Hence, the mobility performance of the proposed network is expected to be better than that of a traditional grid network. A proof-of-concept is conducted through microscopic traffic simulation, in order to take into account individual driving behaviors. The numerical results are very impressive. Discussions regarding practical issues are also provided. Nevertheless, the Chet network is original. It can be considered as an innovative design that could change the way of how people live and travel.

Impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on Economic Growth During the Corona-Virus Pandemic

This article is an attempt to assess in real time the colossal impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on the health, economic and social sectors in MATE countries. This study reviews the literature on the negative impacts of epidemic uncertainty on economic activity.In fact, we used Pedroni’s co-integration analysis to determine the determinants of economic growth over the 2001-2020 period.Moreover, empirical results show that the decline of economic growth in these countries was triggered by a combination of a number of deaths, rising unemployment rates and a decline of gross fixed capital formation and education spending.All these costs are due to the containment measures which imply a reduction in economic activity. More than that, we find that Information and Communication Technologyplays a driving role in economic growth with a two-way link between the Internet User and GDP. This document helps promote future research and technology development to provide better solutions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics and thereby save the economic activity.