COMPETITION AMONG FOREIGN AND CHINESE AGRO-FOOD ENTERPRISES IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION

Based on various case studies, this article examines the interaction of foreign investors and local operators in globalization in the agro-food market in China. The study found that to break the limitation of the high-end market and to position mainly in the middle market were critical for international brands to succeed. Asian companies approached the China market as an insider because of cultural proximity. The latter, plus focused management and effective technology, made their operations profitable easily, but also exposed them to the risk of overexpansion. Quality products at affordable prices were the catch-up approach adopted by local players. At the early stage of globalization, winning tactics for local enterprises include imitating and participating in foreign investments, and exploring the markets where foreign investors have no advantages. In the China market, foreign and domestic enterprises were competing, complementing, and collaborating with each other to allow each to achieve its goals. The study analyzes the sophisticated relationships between domestic and foreign players, and provides inputs to strategic discussions of foreign investors and Chinese local enterprises about how to improve their competitive positions.Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

Long Agricultural Futures Prices: ARCH, Long Memory, or Chaos Processes?

Price series that are 21.5 years long for six agricultural futures markets, corn, soybeans, wheat, hogs, coffee and sugar, possess characteristics consistent with nonlinear dynamics. Three nonlinear models, ARCH, long memory and chaos, are able to produce these symptoms. Using daily, weekly and monthly data for the six markets, each of these models is tested against the martingale difference null, one-by-one. Standard ARCH tests suggest that all series might contain ARCH effects, but further diagnostics show that the series are not ARCH processes, failing to reject the null. A long-memory technique, the AFIMA model, fails to find long-memory structures in the data, except for sugar. This allows chaos analysis to be applied directly to the raw data. Carefully specifying phase space, and utilizing correlation dimension and Lyapunov exponent together, the remaining five price series are found to be chaotic processes.futures markets, ARCH, chaos

Cucurbitacin B: A Potential Natural Agent for Targeting Tumor Immune Cell Population

Immune checkpoint blockade (PD1, PDL-1 and CTLA-4) immunotherapies have emerged as the breakthrough in cancer treatment. However, some malignancies show marginal response. One factor that influences the efficacy of immunotherapy is the development of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), caused by infiltration of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and tumor associated macrophages (TAM) into the tumor, facilitating metastatic tumor growth and immunotherapy resistance. We have identified Cucurbitacin B (Cuc. B), a potent small molecule that targets TAM and MDSCs and inhibits Stat3, CSF-1R, and PI3Kγ signaling axis at lower doses compared to the pharmacological inhibitor of PI3Kγ (IPI-549). IL-4 polarization of TAM caused a loss of the phagocytic capacity which we observed to be restored by Cuc. B treatment. Cuc. B treatment also inhibited the expression of PDL-1 in TAMs. Taken together, our results suggest that Cuc. B has the potential to reprogram TAM and MDSCs via targeting Stat3, CSF-1R, and PI3Kγ. Therefore, Cuc B could be a novel therapeutic modality in improving tumor immunity and checkpoint blockade PD-1/CTLA-4 immunotherapy against non-responsive malignancies

THE ROLE OF AI IN SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN: A CESIUM CASE STUDY

On November 25, 2022, Stephen Anning, Product Manager for CESIUM at Trilateral Research, presented on The Role of AI in Safeguarding Children: A CESIUM Case Study. The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer period with questions from the audience and CASIS Vancouver executives. The key points discussed were the future of privacy, CESIUM’s ability to audit evidence and provide a user-friendly atmosphere, information management and dataset governance, and mitigating the impact of techno-colonialism.   Received: 2023-01-28Revised: 2023-01-2

Operationalizing Human Security in Contemporary Operating Environment

On November 24, 2021, Mr. Stephen Anning presented on Operationalizing Human Security in Contemporary Operating Environment at the 2021 CASIS West Coast Security Conference. The key points of discussion included the concept of human security, the differences between interstate and intrastate conflict, the challenges of understanding human security, and how operationalizing human security can address some of those challenges. The presentation was followed by a question and answer period with questions from the audience and CASIS Vancouver executives

A Five-Year Itch in TNF-α Cytotoxicity: The Time Factor Determines JNK Action

The intricate interplay between NF-κB and JNK determines TNF-α cytotoxicity. In a recent Cell paper, Chang et al. (2006) report that prolonged JNK1 activation promotes TNF-α killing via E3 ligase-mediated degradation of the caspase 8 inhibitor cFLIPL. On the other hand, Ventura et al. (2006) show in their recent Molecular Cell paper that transient JNK activation suppresses TNF-α-induced cell death

"Pay for Delay": Legitimate Conduct to Defend Valid Patent Rights or Anticompetitive Behaviour?

Originator and generic drug manufacturers frequently settle patent litigation on terms that include a payment to the generic manufacturer in return for the generic to delay entry into the market. These reverse-payment settlements extend the originator's market exclusivity and can amount to anticompetitive divisions of the market. Proponents of such settlements emphasise the reverse-payment as a legitimate business response to the risks associated with litigation. While reverse-payment settlements have raised considerable debate in the pharmaceutical field in both the United States and the European Union, competition authorities in New Zealand are yet to address this issue. Against this background, this article seeks to analyse the compatibility of such settlements with New Zealand competition law, in particular with ss 27 and 36 of the Commerce Act 1986. Given the diversity of such agreements, it is unclear whether New Zealand competition law is adequate to curtail reverse-payment settlements

Teaching and learning how to design in schools

A key area of enquiry within a small scale project, based at the University of Leeds, funded by the Design Council (Anning, Jenkins and Whitelaw 1996) was 'What do pupils and their teachers need to know and to be able to do in order to engage in design-based activities?' We worked closely with a group of primary and secondary teachers to try to find some answers. These deceptively straightforward questions taxed all of us. The discussion below does not imply criticism of colleagues' practice. It simply illustrates some of the dilemmas of teaching design in schools

On the Contemporary Value of Xuejia Kiln in Junan County

Carrying forward Chinese traditional culture and protecting the intangible cultural heritage is not to be conservative, but to hold a scientific attitude to the traditional culture, to retain the national heritage of unique value in this era of rapid development, and to adhere to the principle of making the past serve our present-day needs, inheriting the essence and discarding the dross. Therefore, in regard to the exploration of the culture of Xuejia kiln, we must attach importance to the maintenance of traditional culture, give equal attention to inheritance and innovation, and strive to achieve the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture. This paper analyzes the contemporary development and value of Xuejia kiln from multiple perspectives, identifies the role of culture in traditional handicrafts from the perspective of cultural history, and proposes that today ceramics has begun to integrate into people’s lives and has become a household item integrating practicability and beauty