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This paper performs Fourier cointegration and causality tests to analyze the effect of renewable energy generation, globalization, and agricultural activities on ecological footprint and carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions in BRIC countries for the period 1971–2016. The Fourier ADL cointegration test supports a long-run relationship between the considered variables in Brazil and China. The long-term elasticities indicate that globalization increases the pollution indicators, while renewable energy generation significantly reduces environmental pressure in China. Moreover, globalization increases CO 2 emissions, while renewable energy generation improves environmental quality in Brazil. The causality results show the existence of bidirectional causality between agriculture and environmental degradation; unidirectional relationships from globalization to the ecological footprint and CO 2 emissions; and renewable energy generation to the ecological indicators. Overall, these findings reveal the importance of renewable energy in combating environmental degradation. Based on the above results, renewable energy generation can significantly reduce environmental pollution in Brazil and China. However, renewable energy does not affect environmental pressure in Russia and India. Therefore, these countries should differentiate the current renewable energy generation policies to achieve their sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nineteen primary aromatic amines were determined by UPLC-MS/MS in kitchenware. • The method used in this study was validated according to the INMETRO guide. • The method was used successfully for 36 samples purchased from retail markets. • Aniline and 4,4´-diaminodiphenylmethane were found above the legislation limit. • The Mood test was used and shows significant differences between the samples. The aim of this paper is to develop and validate a methodology with potential for routine analysis that allows a fast and easy quantification of 19 primary aromatic amines (PAAs) in acid simulant (3% (w/v) acetic acid aqueous) in food contact materials (FCM). The main reason for studying these amines was the fact that some of them have a carcinogenic factor according to toxicological studies. To validate the method, the parameters linearity, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ), precision and accuracy using an UPLC-MS/MS were evaluated. This study also analyzed 36 samples of kitchenware obtained from retail markets: 16 were made of polyamide (PA), one was made of polypropylene (PP) and 19 were made of silicone. The origins of samples were Brazil, China and Turkey. Eleven samples had levels of 4,4´-diaminodiphenylmethane higher than permitted by legislation and five samples showed values of aniline above the limit. Considering the Mood test for polyamides, there were significant differences between the samples from Brazil and China, as well as between the colors in the silicone samples. Regarding the polyamides, the Chinese samples showed higher amounts of PAAs than the Brazilian ones, being above that allowed by legislation. Three Chinese silicone samples presented values above the legislation limit. These were all from the same importer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we offer an explanation for why regional jets are less used in emerging economies by using a real options valuation (ROV) approach. Our ROV analysis is based on the observation that airlines are operating under different development and regulatory environments between emerging economies and developed economies. We quantify the values of the options using a case study of aircraft acquisition by airlines in the US, Brazil and China. It is found that although a theoretical value gap (a negative ROV) exists between narrow-body aircraft and regional jets (e.g., between A320 and E190) for the US carrier that operates in the condition of a low initial passenger volume per trip and a low passenger growth rate, the gap weakens and a positive ROV is possible for the Brazilian and Chinese carriers facing a high growth rate. Furthermore, regulatory restrictions faced by Chinese carriers have a positive influence on the ROV that is biased towards narrow-body aircraft over regional jets, although this influence is less than the positive ROV impact from the high growth rate. The managerial and policy implications are also discussed. • An explanation for why regional jets are less used in emerging economies. • Employ a real options valuation (ROV) approach. • Quantify the option values using aircraft acquisitions by airlines in the US, Brazil and China. • A positive ROV is found for the Brazilian and Chinese carriers facing a higher growth rate than the US carrier. • Regulatory restrictions faced by Chinese carriers bias towards narrow-body aircraft over regional jets. • The managerial and policy implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the causes of growing carbon transfers between developing countries is likely to be the first step in their mitigation. With this in mind, the current paper uses multi-regional input-output analysis to investigate CO 2 emissions and value-added embodied in China-Brazil trade. We propose the use of value-added exports, rather than gross exports, to more accurately estimate the economic benefits of trade. We find enormous increases in both CO 2 emissions and value-added embodied in exports for China and Brazil between 2000 and 2014. During this period, China's position as a net CO 2 emissions and net value-added exporter vis-à-vis Brazil deepens. Major sources of increasing embodied CO 2 exports for China were the basic materials and electricity industries and for Brazil were the basic materials, agriculture and mining industries. Estimates of net carbon intensities reveal advantages for China in electronics and for Brazil in agriculture and mining. Structural decomposition analysis shows that the changing consumption in China and Brazil as well as the changing structure of intermediate exports from China to Brazil were important sources of increasing embodied CO 2 emissions. This latter finding was possible due to the method proposed in this paper of decomposing the production structure into the domestic, export and import production structures. In line with the key findings, various implications and emission abatement policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper debates the main reasons why Chinese and Brazilian energy policies have not focused on Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) deployment until now. Like most emerging economies, China and Brazil have registered large increases in energy demand, as well as considerable growth of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. On the other hand, both countries have played an important role on the expansion of renewable energy infrastructure and - considering that large portions of their territories present high levels of "Direct Normal Irradiation" (DNI) - CSP technologies might have figured as an important strategy for the mitigation of atmosphere pollution and global warming. Since large scale deployment of CSP technologies still implies high "Levelized Costs Of Electricity" (LCOE) that could affect the competitiveness of national industry in global markets, we argue that a comprehensive answer for this question must place national energy policies in the context of a "world-system" analysis. CSP has not benefited from the international demand that has boosted wind turbines and photovoltaic cells with their subsequent price reductions. Furthermore, we will discuss the "elective affinities" between thermal solar investments and the development of those regions that present the lowest performances in the Chinese and Brazilian socioeconomic realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemometrics has been defined as the discipline that provides maximum information from chemical data. Food science and technology applications use chemical data and are therefore suitable for chemometrics evaluation. Bibliometric studies provide an enhanced understanding of the progression, research status as well as future trends of a research field. The main aim of the study was therefore, to provide a bibliometric evaluation of the research literature employing chemometrics techniques in food science and technology applications. For this, a search strategy including the single term chemometric∗ was performed. The metadata obtained from the bibliometric search was subsequently analyzed. Indicators of the scientific productivity and quality such as the number of articles, citations, or funding activity, were obtained in combination with the most relevant keywords, authors, and countries. The progression over time of the bibliometric indicators was also presented and discussed. Chemometrics appeared as a prolific and healthy research field with increased funding received in the last decade. PCA, PLS and DA are still the preferred methods for most applications. A big part of the research is related to the combined use of spectroscopy and chemometrics. Finally, China and Brazil appeared as the leading countries in applying chemometrics to foodstuffs. • Chemometrics appeared as a prolific and healthy research field. • Chemometrics papers received increased funding in the last decade. • PCA, PLS and DA are still the methods of choice for most applications. • China and Brazil lead the chemometrics research for foodstuffs. • A strong link between chemometrics and spectroscopy was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term vessel speed prediction is exceedingly crucial to various issues in maritime transport, notably in cases with high precision requirement, such as trajectory tracking and collision avoidance. The methods for speed prediction have successively experienced the evolution of empirical formulas, physics-based approaches and data-driven models. Compared to the other two pioneering methods, building the model from data-driven learning seems to be a more appropriate way for ever-larger vessels that entered service in recent years. However, owing to insufficient speed-related features that can be known in advance, such as the engine state and propeller propulsion, traditional data-driven models usually have poor generalization ability when facing new test data. In this paper, taking a case study of a 400,000 DWT ore carrier sailing between China and Brazil, we first provide comparisons of several widely-used data-driven models and select the framework of random forest as the basic. Then, by considering the hardship of directly utilizing real-time monitoring data, we creatively put forward a novel prediction model by introducing sequential data of last historical speed records to bring the potential information of engine state into model learning. Through comprehensive experiments, the superiority and robustness of the proposed model are demonstrated by comparing with other frequently-used time-series prediction methods. • Taking a case of very large ore carrier, data-driven models are analyzed in details. • We propose a new model by introducing the time-series data into the random forest. • The effectiveness and superiority of the proposed model has been demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of the current status of the main CCS initiatives in the major emerging economies: China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. This study first covers all six countries as a group and describes their natural resources. The second part of this study embraces each country individually and includes current initiatives and current legal and technological status of CCS. At the end, this study summarizes the main findings in the emerging economies and the potential of including CCS as part of the CDM. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper addresses the impact of both economic growth and financial development on environmental degradation using a panel cointegration technique for the period between 1980 and 2007, except for Russia (1992–2007). In long-run equilibrium, CO2 emissions appear to be energy consumption elastic and FDI inelastic, and the results seem to support the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The causality results indicate that there exists strong bidirectional causality between emissions and FDI and unidirectional strong causality running from output to FDI. The evidence seems to support the pollution haven and both the halo and scale effects. Therefore, in attracting FDI, developing countries should strictly examine the qualifications for foreign investment or to promote environmental protection through the coordinated know-how and technological transfer with foreign companies to avoid environmental damage. Additionally, there exists strong output-emissions and output-energy consumption bidirectional causality, while there is unidirectional strong causality running from energy consumption to emissions. Overall, the method of managing both energy demand and FDI and increasing both investment in the energy supply and energy efficiency to reduce CO2 emissions and without compromising the country’s competitiveness can be adopted by energy-dependent BRIC countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on three case studies in China and Brazil, this paper explores the terms of access for farmers' participation in certified organic agriculture (OA) and investigates the influence of adoption on productivity, nutrient budgets, income and labour use. Small-scale farmers converting to OA require substantial external production-related, marketing and certification support. Access to OA was strongly dependent upon the type of support available to farmers. Organization based on a contract-farming model resulted in OA only being an option available to a narrow group of farmers, whilst OA initiated by a farmer cooperative provided better access. Gross output was significantly higher for oranges, whilst for the other crops gross output was similar. However, organic farmers in China felt that adoption had improved prices, incomes and market access. Farmers' perception of improved incomes is probably due to improved market access coupled with either a large production base, production intensification and production diversification. This study demonstrates that organization of farmers, and the manner in which this is structured, is crucial for external support to have an effect. Thus, OA may be a development path for small farmers if the supporting structures are provided at a small financial interest rate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The launch and successful operation of Chinese–Brazil Earth resources satellite (CBERS-1) in China has accelerated the application of space technology in China. These applications include agriculture, forestry, water conservation, land resources, city planning, environment protection and natural hazards monitoring and so on. The result of these applications provides a scientific basis for government decision making and has created great economic and social benefits in Chinese national economy construction. In this paper we present examples and provide auxiliary documentation of additional applications of the data from Earth resource monitoring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Greenhouse gas emissions related to food production in selected countries around the world in 2000, 2007, and 2014 were analyzed in this paper. In recent decades, many studies have suggested that greenhouse gas emissions mostly caused by agricultural production should be reduced. However, a low-carbon agricultural sector often involves a reduction in inputs, which may result in smaller production volumes. Nevertheless, the overarching goal should be to maintain food production at a sufficient level to meet the population's food requirements. Food production is particularly important in the context of the forecasted growth of the world population. In this situation, greenhouse gas emissions per product unit should be regarded as a key indicator that reflects the environmental sustainability level of production processes. Defined as such, environmental sustainability was examined across the entire food production system—referred to as agribusiness. This study calculated the emissions of major greenhouse gases related to food production and compared them to the GDP of agribusiness. The average ratio of the agribusiness carbon footprint to GDP in countries examined was nearly 2 kg of CO 2 equivalent/USD in 2000. This value kept decreasing during the study period, reaching 1.21 in 2014. A decrease in the ratio was recorded despite an increase in agribusiness greenhouse gas emissions, which validated the research hypothesis that an increase in greenhouse gas emissions from agribusiness does not necessarily reflect a decline in the environmental performance of agribusiness production. This is especially true for China and Brazil, whose greenhouse gas emissions related to food production increased considerably in the years examined in this study along with a clear decline in emission levels per unit of agribusiness GDP. This study is innovative, because the literature does not provide any similar calculations for the food production subsystem, especially regarding emission levels per production unit. This approach required the authors to integrate the calculation methods used in agribusiness production with those applicable to agribusiness greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, this study relied on consistent methods developed by the authors to calculate these values. The research adds to existing literature by calculating the carbon footprint for the entire food production system, and it argues that better environmental performance of agribusiness production can be achieved despite higher greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, China has three major deepwater oil and gas fields located in the Qiongdongnan and Pearl River Mouth basins in the South China Sea (SCS) at water depths ranging from 300 m to over 1500 m. In this paper, we compare the geology, reservoir, and fluid properties and development concepts of these deepwater fields with those in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Nigeria, and Brazil. Based on this comparison, we have identified several key subsurface challenges and opportunities for future deepwater field developments in China. Major subsurface challenges include smaller in-place volumes, heavier oil, lower reservoir energy, and higher reservoir temperature. Opportunities identified include locating continental margin systems with high accommodation volumes and abundant sand supply, use of alternative development concepts such as Floating Liquified Natural Gas (FLNG) and complaint platforms with dry tree wells and learnings from the recent development of lower-permeability reservoirs in deepwater GOM and the deepwater heavy oil developments and CO 2 handling techniques in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Countries in 3-G are an ideal data source for the international scenario research. • Scenarios mined in this paper highly consistent with Euro-NCAP 2025 Roadmap. • Some critical scenario elements are missing in Euro-NCAP 2025 Roadmap. • Some critical information is missing in IGLAD database. Scenario-based testing is crucial for considering the intended functional safety of automated driving vehicles. For the first time, pre-crash scenario mining research was conducted using worldwide accident data obtained from the Initiative for the Global Harmonization of Accident Data (IGLAD). First, data from the IGLAD database were analyzed and divided into four categories based on differences in traffic environments among countries and regions. Second, according to actual accident characteristics, fields and methods of clustering were selected, and 21 typical pre-crash scenarios were obtained using clustering and analysis. Finally, the typical scenarios were analyzed and compared in detail. Four conclusions were drawn as follows: 1. Considerable differences exist in traffic participant types, accident forms, and typical scenarios across countries and regions. 2. The third group of countries (3-G, represented by China and Brazil) in which accidents and pre-crash scenarios are the most representative and diverse is an ideal data source for the international scenario research. 3. The typical scenarios mined through clustering were highly consistent with the new test scenarios added in the Euro-NCAP 2025 Roadmap, but a few typical scenario elements which are critical for safety evaluations were still not covered in Roadmap. 4. Data from the IGLAD database still lacks a few important pieces of information for scenario research, such as obstruction of visual field due to obstacles, and the data representativeness need to be improved, therefore we recommend that IGLAD database adds some new data parameters to fit the further scenario research, and propose distribution requirements of accident data considering scenario elements. The analysis methods and conclusions presented used in this study could serve as guidelines or references for automated vehicle safety evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research into bioactive natural products originating from medicinal plants, fungi and other organisms has a long history, accumulating abundant and diverse publications. However no quantitative literature analysis has been conducted so far. Here we analyze the bibliometric data of ethnopharmacology literature and relate the semantic content to the publication and citation data so that the major research themes, contributors, and journals of different time periods could be identified and evaluated. Web of Science (WoS) was searched to identify relevant publications. The Analyze function of WoS and bibliometric software (VOSviewer) were utilized to perform the analyses. Until the end of November 2018, 59,576 publications -linked to 'ethnopharmacology' indexed by WoS, published since 1958 in more than 5600 journals, and contributed by over 20,600 institutions located in more than 200 countries/regions, were identified. The papers were published under four dominating WoS categories, namely pharmacology/pharmacy (34.4%), plant sciences (28.6%), medicinal chemistry (25.3%), and integrative complementary medicine (20.6%). India (14.6%) and China (13.2%) were dominating the publication space. The United States and Brazil also had more than 8.0% contribution each. The rest of the top ten countries/regions were mainly from Asia. There were around ten-fold more original articles (84.6%) than reviews (8.4%). Ethnopharmacological research has a consistent focus on food and plant sciences, (bio)chemistry, complementary medicine and pharmacology, with a more limited scientific acceptance in the socio-cultural sciences. Dynamic global contributions have been shifting from developed countries to economically and scientifically emerging countries in Asia, South America and the Middle East. Research on recording medicinal plant species used by traditional medicine continues, but the evaluation of specific properties or treatment effects of extracts and compounds has increased enormously. Moreover increasing attention is paid to some widely distributed natural products, such as curcumin, quercetin, and rutin. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]