Fiscal Considerations for Sustainable Public Funding of Urban Old-Age Pensions in the People’s Republic of China

China has well-established Old-age Pensions policies for the different segments of its population, both as part of the current welfare policies framework as well as continuing a long established tradition of care for the elderly. Urban Old-Age Pensions policies play an increasingly important role in the increasingly urbanised economy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The PRC government continued with tradition in the policies that led to the enactment of the Social Insurance Law of the People’s Republic of China[1], and promised to fully fund Urban Old-Age Pensions. A common theme reported in the prevailing literature is that the PRC government does not have the ability to sustainably fund Urban Old-Age Pensions, citing both substantive and administrative causes of the short fall, and calling for changes to the Social Insurance Contributions policies to make the Urban Old-age Pension schemes more sustainable. The prevailing literature, however, neglected the Chinese tradition that includes government policies to look after the elderly, and misconstrued the Social Insurance Contributions as insurance premiums. This thesis investigated whether changes to funding policies are needed in order to meet the stated obligation of fully funding Urban Old-Age Pensions. The thesis investigated the sources of funding by collating all sources of fiscal revenue and then calculating whether this sum collected would successfully fund the required level of disbursed Urban Old-Age Pensions. This thesis concludes that at current Urban Old-age Pension replacement rates[2], the PRC’s fiscal structure can adequately fund Urban Old-Age Pensions at present benefit levels. Current studies on the sustainability of funding need to consider the data gathered and arguments made in this thesis and to incorporate all sources of funding before stating that short falls in funding and lack of funding sustainability exist, or suggesting reform proposals. [1] Above note 2. [2] The Old-age Pension replacement rate is taken to be the rate Old-age Pensions is paid at as a percentage of National Average Wages Levels

The creative industrial park : formation path and evolution mechanism

This paper has built a three-stage assumption of creative industrial park on the base of evolutionary economics, which are the gather of units, the construction of interface and the development of network. The gather of units is a reflection of resource search, the construction of interface is a need of identity, and the development of network is a result of multi-dimensional expansion.In the three-stage evolution, the creative industrial park increases constantly their evolution level from the simple geographic gathered to the division and cooperation of labor, until the formation of novel systems. Then this paper analyzes the 798 creative industrial park using the three-stage assumption. This paper finds the main problem of 798’s self-destructing after the low level development of the third stage is the exclusion of the commercial prosperity to the art production. Accordingly,the paper puts forword four modes of promoting the integration between art and commerce. At last, this paper argues the different characteristics of the creative industrial park from other industrial parks. On the angle of formation path, the essence of creative industries is integration of culture and economy, technology. On the angle of evolution mechanism, it reflects novel characteristic of unit, identity characteristic of interface, and co-creation characteristic of network.creative industrial park; formation path; evolution mechanism; integration of culture,economy,and technology

Virtual Modeling of an Industrial Robotic Arm for Energy Consumption Estimation

This study aims to improve the traditional control methods of industrial robotic arms for path planning in line with efforts to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. The digital twin of a six-axis industrial robotic arm with an energy consumption model is innovatively designed. By directly dragging the end effector of a digital twin model, the robotic arm can be controlled for path planning, allowing path tuning to be easily made. In addition, the dynamic equation of the industrial robotic arm is derived, and the energy consumption of the corresponding path can be estimated. Four cases are designed to test the validity of the digital twin. Experimental results show that the physical robotic arm follows its digital twin model with the corresponding energy consumption computed. The estimated energy consumptions agree quite well with each designed case scenario

Investigating the Relationship between Dietary Sodium Intake and Severity Levels of Fluid Overload Symptoms in Patients with Heart Failure

Aim: This study aimed to investigate dietary sodium intake levels and to explore the relationship between those levels and the severity of fluid overload symptoms.Background: The management of dietary sodium is an important nursing intervention in the care of patients with heart failure stemming from fluid overload. Recommendations for the intake of dietary sodium among heart failure patients were discussed. If a heart failure patient’s dietary sodium intake habits are understood, then the relationship between this intake and fluid overload can be elucidated. This knowledge would be beneficial for nursing intervention in cases of heart failure.Methods: A total of 98 patients selected from cardiology wards who had a diagnosis of heart failure were enrolled in this study. Their dietary sodium intake level was estimated from a 24-hour urinary sodium excretion analysis. The severity of fluid overload symptoms was assessed using the fluid volume overload symptoms scale. Results: This study showed that the mean dietary sodium intake for patients with heart failure was 2.49 g/day and that this intake had no correlation with the severity levels of fluid overload symptoms. Conclusions: Using the patients’ own perceptions of the severity of fluid overload symptoms as a reference, adopting more relaxed sodium dietary intake restrictions may lead patients to have better food consumption habits