Carbon neutrality target for leading exporting countries: On the role of economic complexity index and renewable energy electricity

In order to contribute to the existing limited energy-environment literature, the present study analyze the carbon neutrality targets of the 16 major exporting economies while considering the role of economic complexity and renewable energy electricity consumption empirically by investigating the most recent dataset covering the period from 1990 to 2019 by employing advanced econometric techniques. This study uses the economic complexity index, connecting the country\u27s productive structure with the amount of knowledge that the products represent. Employing various cointegration and regression techniques such as augmented mean group (AMG) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) confirms the long-run cointegration among the variables such as economic growth, economic complexity, renewable energy consumption, and CO emission. Also, this study provides evidence that confirms the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in the leading exporting economies. Regarding the carbon neutrality target, we found that both economic complexity and renewable electricity, if increase by one percent each, significantly reduce CO emissions by 0.1491 (AMG) and 0.130% (DOLS) and 0.160 (AMG) and 0.203% (DOLS), respectively, that help attain the carbon neutrality target

APETALA2 antagonizes the transcriptional activity of AGAMOUS in regulating floral stem cells in Arabidopsis thaliana.

APETALA2 (AP2) is best known for its function in the outer two floral whorls, where it specifies the identities of sepals and petals by restricting the expression of AGAMOUS (AG) to the inner two whorls in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we describe a role of AP2 in promoting the maintenance of floral stem cell fate, not by repressing AG transcription, but by antagonizing AG activity in the center of the flower. We performed a genetic screen with ag-10 plants, which exhibit a weak floral determinacy defect, and isolated a mutant with a strong floral determinacy defect. This mutant was found to harbor another mutation in AG and was named ag-11. We performed a genetic screen in the ag-11 background to isolate mutations that suppress the floral determinacy defect. Two suppressor mutants were found to harbor mutations in AP2. While AG is known to shut down the expression of the stem cell maintenance gene WUSCHEL (WUS) to terminate floral stem cell fate, AP2 promotes the expression of WUS. AP2 does not repress the transcription of AG in the inner two whorls, but instead counteracts AG activity

Regulatory incentives for a low-carbon electricity sector in China

This paper reviews the incentives for pursuing a low-carbon electricity sector that are embedded in China's regulatory and policy framework. To do so, we first describe the industry structure and the regulatory framework. Second, we explicitly review the policies that were developed to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. These policies range from the introduction of legal requirements to undertake particular actions to pricing mechanism and financial incentives. Based on this, we tease out the challenges faced by a sector governed by a myriad of complex arrangements, different institutions and agents who face different and often conflicting incentives for pursuing environmental and energy efficiency objectives. Finally, we provide suggestions to scientifically set up low-carbon policies and to achieve the expected goals with minimum social cost. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Control of astrocyte progenitor specification, migration and maturation by Nkx6.1 homeodomain transcription factor.

Although astrocytes are the most abundant cell type in the central nervous system (CNS), little is known about their molecular specification and differentiation. It has previously been reported that transcription factor Nkx6.1 is expressed in neuroepithelial cells that give rise to astrocyte precursors in the ventral spinal cord. In the present study, we systematically investigated the function of Nkx6.1 in astrocyte development using both conventional and conditional Nkx6.1 mutant mice. At early postnatal stages, Nkx6.1 was expressed in a subpopulation of astrocytes in the ventral spinal cord. In the conventional Nkx6.1KO spinal cord, the initial specification of astrocyte progenitors was affected by the mutation, and subsequent migration and differentiation were disrupted in newborn mice. In addition, the development of VA2 subtype astrocytes was also inhibited in the white matter. Further studies with Nkx6.1 conditional mutants revealed significantly delayed differentiation and disorganized arrangement of fibrous astrocytes in the ventral white matter. Together, our studies indicate that Nkx6.1 plays a vital role in astrocyte specification and differentiation in the ventral spinal cord

Inclusive growth and climate change adaptation and mitigation in Australia and China : Removing barriers to solving wicked problems

This reports aims to assist the Sino-Australian bilateral relationship adapt to meet China’s new policies and to facilitate a smoother transition to a low carbon future. Southwest University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE), Chengdu, China and the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia held a workshop at SWUFE to develop a guide to China’s low-carbon policies and their implications for the Sino-Australian energy trade and sectors. This report results from the workshop. Chapter 3 contains the guide to China’s low emission policies and discusses market-based experiments within China’s command-and-control electricity sector. Chapter 4 discuses Australia’s poorly implemented neoliberal polices within its energy sector and provides an informative market-based case study for China on what to avoid. Chapter 2 discusses the implications of Australia and China’s low emission policies. Chapter 5 discusses barriers to the transition to a low emissions economy. Climate change is one of the world’s major challenges. Others include increasing inequality and poor economic growth, creating a decline in inclusive growth. Declining inclusive growth and climate change are interrelated wicked problems. Their solution is technically and economically viable given appropriate investment but the absence of a price on carbon in Australia is a major obstacle to directing investment consistent with a low emissions future. Australia is transitioning from a mining to a more service orientated economy. However, Australia’s uncoordinated energy and climate change policy and poorly implemented neoliberal policies in the energy sector are undermining investment confidence and hindering both inclusive growth and the transition to a lower emissions economy. Energy and climate change policies need bring together to restore investment confidence within the electricity sector. The Integrated Systems Plan has gone some way to address this problem. Similarly, Australia’s uncoordinated growth and climate change policies are hindering inclusive growth and the transition to a lower emissions economy. Growth and climate change policies need bringing together to engender confidence and direct investment compatible with a low emissions future. Notably, Infrastructure Australia has gone some way to address this issue at the national level but the lack of transparency and independence in other jurisdictions undermines Infrastructure Australia’s effectiveness. Poor policy coordination is also hindering solutions to a host of other interrelated wicked problems. These wicked problems include massive increases in retail electricity prices, private school fees and private health insurance, the inability to undertake major tax reform, such as introducing a tax on sugar or carbon or introduce road user charges to replace the declining revenue from fuel excise duty. There is ample and sound evidence-based research to solve these wicked problems but there is an inability to enact policy in the interest of the electorate. The key findings of this report are four common barriers to enacting policy to solve these wicked problems. (1) Political donations present a conflict of interest. (2) Adversarial politics and political wedging reduce the ability to address complex problems. (3) There is an absence of academic economists informing the public debate to provide impartial advice. (4) Unrealistic models of the economy and human behaviour are misinforming policy

Intergenic transcription by RNA Polymerase II coordinates Pol IV and Pol V in siRNA-directed transcriptional gene silencing in \u3ci\u3eArabidopsis\u3c/i\u3e

Intergenic transcription by RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) is widespread in plant and animal genomes, but the functions of intergenic transcription or the resulting noncoding transcripts are poorly understood. Here, we show that Arabidopsis Pol II is indispensable for endogenous siRNA-mediated transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) at intergenic low-copy-number loci, despite the presence of two other polymerases—Pol IV and Pol V—that specialize in TGS through siRNAs. We show that Pol II produces noncoding scaffold transcripts that originate outside of heterochromatic, siRNA-generating loci. Through these transcripts and physical interactions with the siRNA effector protein ARGONAUTE4 (AGO4), Pol II recruits AGO4/siRNAs to homologous loci to result in TGS. Meanwhile, Pol II transcription also recruits Pol IV and Pol V to different locations at heterochromatic loci to promote siRNA biogenesis and siRNA-mediated TGS, respectively. This study establishes that intergenic transcription by Pol II is required for siRNA-mediated TGS, and reveals an intricate collaboration and division of labor among the three polymerases in gene silencing