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"EXTERNAL CONDITIONS"
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Crop straw retention influenced crop yield and greenhouse gas emissions under various external conditions
Crop straw retention is a strongly recommended practice for sustainable agricultural production in China. However, a comprehensive analysis of straw retention effects on crop yield, N
2
O and CH
4
emissions, net greenhouse gas (NGHG), and net greenhouse gas intensity (NGHGI) and their response to various external influence factors, including location/climatic conditions, soil properties, and field management practices, in a national scale were easily ignored. Based on the collected published literatures, we found that straw retention improved crop yield and N
2
O and CH
4
emissions by 4.7% (−4.6 to 25.8%), 18.3% (−26.6 to 57.6%), and 21.0% (−49.0 to 214.5%) in contrast with no-straw retention. For different external conditions, crop yield was increased by 15.9% in temperate zone and 10.7% in upland soils with straw retention. N
2
O emissions which correspond to the above conditions were enhanced by 42.2% and 18.8%, while CH
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emissions were restrained by 49.0% in temperate zone. Negligible changes in crop yield and N
2
O emissions were observed for subtropical zone or paddy soils, but with increase in CH
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emissions. Additionally, straw retention enhanced NGHG and NGHGI by 20.7% and 15.4% on average regardless of various external conditions, respectively. However, NGHG was reduced under conditions of straw retention in temperature or mulching to field. Straw retention under appropriate site-specially conditions simultaneously safeguard food security and slightly increase environmental effects.
Journal Article
A Community Energy Transition Model for Urban Areas: The Energy Self-Reliant Village Program in Seoul, South Korea
While community energy initiatives are on the rise, community actions for energy transition in Asian countries have rarely been studied. While it is difficult for community energy initiatives to develop spontaneously in Seoul, there are some success stories there. This study places these successes in context. It analyzes municipal documents, including unpublished materials from municipal meetings, in order to examine how the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) created enabling conditions for promoting community energy initiatives. This study also conducted interviews to explore unsolved issues related to the Energy Self-Reliant Village (ESV) program. The SMG encouraged collective action through financial, administrative, and informational support. Also, this study found that Seoul’s ESV program fostered communities by raising the sense of locality and responsibility and community spirit through various educational programs. The ESV program supported the continuity of community by providing guidelines that relieved the burden on community members. The SMG played a significant role in promoting community engagement in energy transition by affecting internal and external conditions. This study provides meaningful insights that other municipalities, especially large urban areas, can follow to foster community actions for energy transition.
Journal Article
1931: debt, crisis, and the rise of Hitler
Germany's financial collapse in the summer of 1931 was one of the biggest economic catastrophes of modern history. It led to a global panic, brought down the international monetary system, and turned a worldwide recession into a prolonged depression. The German crisis also contributed decisively to the rise of Hitler. Soon after the crisis, the Nazi Party became the largest party of the country which paved the way for Hitler's eventual seizure of power in 1933.0The reason for the financial collapse was Germany's large pile of foreign debt denominated in gold currency which condemned the government to cut spending, raise taxes, and lower wages in the middle of a worldwide recession. As the political resistance to this austerity policy grew, the German government began to question its debt obligations, prompting foreign investors to panic and sell their German assets. The resulting currency crisis led to the failure of the already weakened banking0system and a partial sovereign default.0Hitler managed to profit from the crisis, because he had been the most vocal critic of the reparation regime. As the financial system collapsed, his relentless attacks against foreign creditors and the alleged complicity of the German government resonated more than ever with the electorate. Sadly enough, Germany's creditors hesitated too long to take the wind out of Hitler's sails by offering debt relief. 0In 1931,Tobias Straumann reveals the story of the fatal crisis, demonstrating how a debt trap contributed to the rapid financial and political collapse of a European country, and to the rise of the Nazi Party.
Book
Growth Accelerations and Reversals in Emerging Market and Developing Economies: External Conditions and Domestic Amplifiers
We investigate how country-specific external demand, external financial conditions, and terms of trade affect medium-term growth in emerging market and developing economies and the occurrence of growth accelerations and reversals. We find that the importance of country-specific external conditions for medium-term growth has increased over time, with external financial conditions accounting for one-third of the increase in average income per capita growth between 1995 and 2004 and 2005–14. Stronger external demand and financial conditions significantly increase the probability of growth accelerations, while a strengthening of any of the three conditions significantly decreases the probability of reversals. Certain domestic policies and structural attributes, including exchange rate flexibility, trade integration, and strong institutional frameworks, can significantly amplify or mitigate the effect that shifts in those external conditions have on growth patterns in emerging market and developing economies.
Journal Article
Adaptive Path-Tracking Control Algorithm for Autonomous Mobility Based on Recursive Least Squares with External Condition and Covariance Self-Tuning
This paper introduces an adaptive path-tracking control algorithm for autonomous mobility based on recursive least squares (RLS) with external conditions and covariance self-tuning. The advancement and commercialization of autonomous driving necessitate universal path-tracking control technologies. In this study, we propose a path-tracking control algorithm that does not rely on vehicle parameters and leverages RLS with self-tuning mechanisms for external conditions and covariance. We designed an integrated error for effective path tracking that combines the lateral preview distance and yaw angle errors. The controller design employs a first-order derivative error dynamics model with the coefficients of the error dynamics estimated through the RLS using a forgetting factor. To ensure stability, we applied the Lyapunov direct method with injection terms and finite convergence conditions. Each regression process incorporates external conditions, and the self-tuning of the injection terms utilizes residuals. The performance of the proposed control algorithm was evaluated using MATLAB®/Simulink® and CarMaker under various path-tracking scenarios. The evaluation demonstrated that the algorithm effectively controlled the front steering angle for autonomous path tracking without vehicle-specific parameters. This controller is expected to provide a versatile and robust path-tracking solution in diverse autonomous driving applications.
Journal Article
China's East-European \Leverage\: Understanding the Region's Post-Communist Transition and Stance in Relation to the European Union
In most general methodological sense, Chinese experts' community of today looks upon East-Central European socio-economic and political developments since 1989 as a direct consequence of the \"third wave of democratization\", proclaimed in the famous book by Samuel Huntington in 1974. Fundamental improvement of East-West relations, subsequent end of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union created indispensable context for these pivotal systemic changes in the countries of the region. Perspective of the integration into European Union and actual integration which happened for 11 East-Central European states is viewed by the Chinese as crucial external condition for understanding the substance and direction of the region's postcommunist transformation. Moreover, this transformation is perceived by many in Beijing to be generally successful. However, observing recent domestic trends in some important countries of the region and growing tension between them and EU authorities, several Chinese experts expressed the view that \"shock therapies\", \"rapid privatization\" and \"swift transition to multi-party systems\" \"were a mismatch to the actual conditions of these societies\". This \"mismatch\", according to such view, posed serious problems regarding the future path of the region's development as well as dynamics of EU itself. Chinese mainstream experts invariably underline the importance of PRC's economic cooperation with all East-Central European countries, not, however, at the expense of deterioration of relations between Beijing and Brussels (EU in general and \"Old Europe\" in particular). This sensitivity is manifested, among other things, in China's stress to fully develop \"regional cooperation\" between PRC and East-Central European states. Chinese experts also point to serious socio-economic, political and culture-historic differences and even discrepancies between the countries of the East-Central European region.
Journal Article
Building (or not building) dynamic capabilities: the case of Italian subsidiaries in China and India
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of capability building at subsidiary level and the forces preventing such process. The paper discusses and tests three propositions governing this process.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on multiple case studies. A case study research is most useful when addressing issues about which little prior theory has been developed or empirical evidence collected.
Findings
Subsidiaries in Asia operate in a way substantially different from those in the West. Specifically what ways do market specificities in Asian economies serve to either inhibit or positively encourage the development of a subsidiary? What are the circumstances which could induce subsidiaries to outsource production?
Research limitations/implications
Future research should explore the regional effect on MNE subsidiary types and different flexibilities exhibited in the value chain. What are the specific aspects (macro and micro) that explain variations of business strategies at subsidiary levelboth over time and between countries?
Practical implications
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) should be aware of the strong potential for capability development at the subsidiary level. This increased awareness ought to induce consideration in MNEs about how best to encourage such know capability development and how to leverage these capabilities for a better MNE performance.
Social implications
Managers who knew the host country languages and culture, and have outward-looking attitudes, are in advantageous positions to learn about new opportunities.
Originality/value
The paper offers empirical insights into the state and drivers of subsidiary performance in Asia. Specifically it shows how neglect of external conditions can act to open people’s eyes and foster a capability-building process within subsidiaries.
Journal Article