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This article considers the effect of China's Belt and Road Initiative on supply-chain trade for 64 economies in the period 2002–2011. We employ a structural gravity equation to estimate the impact of trade-cost reducing measures—notably infrastructural improvements and the creation of free trade agreements—on supply-chain trade and welfare in general equilibrium. We find that infrastructural investments will yield asymmetric benefits to China, Russia and Southeast Asian countries stemming from greater European market access. Our results also suggest that China's alternatives to foster (inter)regional economic growth through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Trans-Pacific Partnership offer much less attractive economic prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Within the last decades, genome-editing techniques such as CRISPR/Cas, TALENs, Zinc-Finger Nucleases, Meganucleases, Oligonucleotide-Directed Mutagenesis and base editing have been developed enabling a precise modification of DNA sequences. Such techniques provide options for simple, time-saving and cost-effective applications compared to other breeding techniques and hence genome editing has already been promoted for a wide range of plant species. Although the application of genome-editing induces less unintended modifications (off-targets) in the genome compared to classical mutagenesis techniques, off-target effects are a prominent point of criticism as they are supposed to cause unintended effects, e.g. genomic instability or cell death. To address these aspects, this map aims to answer the following question: What is the available evidence for the range of applications of genome-editing as a new tool for plant trait modification and the potential occurrence of associated off-target effects? This primary question will be considered by two secondary questions: One aims to overview the market-oriented traits being modified by genome-editing in plants and the other explores the occurrence of off-target effects. Methods: A literature search in nine bibliographic databases, Google Scholar, and 47 web pages of companies and governmental agencies was conducted using predefined and tested search strings in English language. Articles were screened on title/abstract and full text level for relevance based on pre-defined inclusion criteria. The relevant information of included studies were mapped using a pre-defined data extraction strategy. Besides a descriptive summary of the relevant literature, a spreadsheet containing all extracted data is provided. Results: Altogether, 555 relevant articles from journals, company web pages and web pages of governmental agencies were identified containing 1328 studies/applications of genome-editing in model plants and agricultural crops in the period January 1996 to May 2018. Most of the studies were conducted in China followed by the USA. Genome-editing was already applied in 68 different plants. Although most of the studies were basic research, 99 different market-oriented applications were identified in 28 different crops leading to plants with improved food and feed quality, agronomic value like growth characteristics or increased yield, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, herbicide tolerance or industrial benefits. 252 studies explored off-target effects. Most of the studies were conducted using CRISPR/Cas. Several studies firstly investigated whether sites in the genome show similarity to the target sequence and secondly analyzed these potential off-target sites by sequencing. In around 3% of the analyzed potential off-target sites, unintended mutations were detected. Only a few studies conducted off-target analyses using unbiased detection methods (e.g. whole genome sequencing). No off-target effects that could be correlated to the genome-editing process were identified in these studies. Conclusions: The rapid adoption in plant breeding was demonstrated by a considerable number of market oriented applications (crops and traits) described in publications worldwide. Studies investigating off-target effects are very heterogeneous in their structure and design. Therefore, an in-depth assessment regarding their weight of evidence is mandatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• State-of-the-art for value creation in Industry 4.0. • Primarily positive impacts of Industry 4.0 for ecological sustainability expected. • Positive and negative impacts of Industry 4.0 on social sustainability estimated. In 2015, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Agenda 2030 which counts 17 indivisible and self-sustaining goals. These so-called Sustainable Development Goals are intended to serve as a foundation for a transformation of the global economies towards a sustainable development. This transformation process should be built on an economic development in accordance with social equality and within ecological boundaries. As essential stakeholders for a global sustainable development, industrial organizations have to shift towards a novel paradigm which puts an emphasis on sustainable value creation. Industrial value creation has gone through radical changes during the last years. Since the 2010s, the so-called fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) can be observed. The state of the art in research and technology for Industry 4.0 and sustainability is outlined. The potential for sustainable value creation in Industry 4.0 is qualitatively assessed for a macro and micro perspective based on a literature review and expert interviews. The assessment unfolds that the value creation might positively contribute to a sustainable development in many cases. Critical areas with expected negative contributions related to the quantity of materials used, primary energy consumption, and working conditions are identified and elaborated in more detail. A demonstrator for an intelligent cube production is investigated in order to verify the results of the assessment. This demonstrator is currently set up in China as part of a Sino-German Research Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly transmissible and virulent human-infecting coronavirus that emerged in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, causing a respiratory disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has massively impacted global public health and caused widespread disruption to daily life. The crisis caused by COVID-19 has mobilized scientists and public health authorities across the world to rapidly improve our knowledge about this devastating disease, shedding light on its management and control, and spawned the development of new countermeasures. Here we provide an overview of the state of the art of knowledge gained in the last 2 years about the virus and COVID-19, including its origin and natural reservoir hosts, viral etiology, epidemiology, modes of transmission, clinical manifestations, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, emerging variants, and vaccines, highlighting important differences from previously known highly pathogenic coronaviruses. We also discuss selected key discoveries from each topic and underline the gaps of knowledge for future investigations.