Response of renewable energy minerals to energy policy and technological advancement: An assessment of the Russian energy crisis.

The world is turning to renewable energy sources to combat environmental degradation. This is part of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-7, which envisions affordable and clean energy. However, achieving the SDG-7 targets and spreading clean energy requires extracting and utilizing various minerals. Russia is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of cobalt, graphite, and rare elements used for renewable energy production. Russia must increase the production of minerals for renewable energy production to achieve SDG-7. In this context, the study aims to investigate the impact of energy policy uncertainty (ENPU), environmental policy stringency (EPS), environmental patents (ETEC), and information and communication technologies (ICT) on renewable energy minerals in Russia. To this end, the study uses novel multivariate quantile-on-quantile regression (M-QQR) and cross-quantilogram (CQ) approaches for the period from 2002m9-2020m12. The M-QQR results show that EPS, ICT, and ETEC increase the extraction of renewable energy minerals, while ENPU inhibits the extraction of cobalt, graphite, and rare elements. The main results indicate that technological progress supports the extraction of renewable energy minerals in Russia and that a strict environmental fiscal policy contributes to the achievement of SDG-7. Based on the findings, Russia needs to support technological progress in the ecological field, implement strict environmental policies, and reduce uncertainties related to energy policies to extract renewable energy minerals and advance the achievement of SDG-7.

Technological innovation, globalization and ecological quality: A disaggregated ecological footprint approach for BRICS countries.

The ecological footprint (EF) has become one of the leading indicators for environmental assessments. The EF is an indicator that is at the center of researchers' interest in empirical analysis, as it simultaneously reflects air, water, and soil pollution. Analyzing the six sub-components of the EF is essential for assessing the environmental pressures from forestry, construction, fisheries, agriculture, and livestock, as well as for remediating these pressures. In this context, this study examines the impact of income, globalization, and technological progress (represented by patents) on the EF and its subcomponents for the BRICS countries over the period 1992-2020. The BRICS countries are of critical importance to this study as major countries in the global economic and environmental landscape. The study employs the panel LM cointegration test and the common correlated effects estimator. The results show that economic expansion augments ecological, carbon, and built-up land footprints and that patents have no significant impact on the EF indicators. On the contrary, globalization is a factor that reduces five of the seven EF indicators. A robustness check performed with a half-panel jackknife confirms the analysis findings. These results suggest that BRICS policymakers should harmonize economic development and ecology while making greater use of the environmental benefits of globalization.

Subacute ascending myelopathy in adolescent athlete after spinal cord injury: a case report on dynamic complication of spine trauma.

BACKGROUND: Subacute post-traumatic ascending myelopathy (SPAM) is a rare complication after spinal cord injury (SCI). SPAM onsets within few days or weeks after initial SCI. Here, we present an adolescent male athlete who developed SPAM after SCI and brief review of literature. Previous reports almost all were about adult patients. Here, we present second adolescent case in the literature. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 15 years old adolescent athlete presented to A&E with a T10-T11 fracture dislocation of the spine and a SCI. He underwent T9-L1 posterior instrumentation and decompression. On the 11th post injury, he complained numbness of the T4 dermatome and by the 14th day, he had become tetraplegia with paralysis of the arms and required ventilation. MRI revealed C3-T10 cord changes on T2 weighed images. He received high dose methylprednisolone for 3 weeks. At one-year follow up he had fully recovered arm motor power and improved light touch and pin prick sensation. CONCLUSIONS: SPAM may occur in adolescents with a good prognosis. Our case is well example against for proposal of arterial hypothesis.

Is reducing fossil fuel intensity important for environmental management and ensuring ecological efficiency in China?

Since China is a country with high environmental pollution, researchers have intensively studied China's environmental problems using various environmental indicators such as carbon emissions and ecological footprint. Unlike previous literature, this study analyzes the effects of economic growth, globalization, foreign direct investment, and fossil energy intensity on ecological efficiency in China. As an innovation to the literature, the study examines the Chinese ecosystem simultaneously with its economic and environmental aspects by focusing on ecological efficiency. To this end, the study applies dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (DARDL) simulations and kernel-based regularized least squares (KRLS) methods for the period from 1990 to 2018. The results of the DARDL simulations show that globalization, and economic growth enhance ecological efficiency in China. The findings also demonstrate that both foreign direct investment and fossil fuel intensity have a negative impact on environmental quality in China. Based on these results, the study suggests that the Chinese government should adopt policies to channel foreign direct investment into environmentally friendly production, reduce fossil fuel intensity, and improve ecological efficiency by making use of environmentally friendly technologies provided by globalization and economic development.

Persistence of shocks on sectoral non-methane volatile organic compound from 1820 to 2019: Insights from a fourier quantile unit root test.

Despite being directly related to anthropogenic consumption and production, researchers have paid less attention to understanding the dynamics of non-methane volatile organic compounds. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the persistence of potential shocks to non-methane volatile organic compounds in 20 developed from 1820 to 2019 performing traditional unit root approaches and a newly developed Fourier quantile unit root test. Great portion of the empirical results obtained by traditional unit root tests reveal that the sectoral non-methane volatile organic compounds follow a non-stationary process, while the Fourier quantile unit root test indicate quite different results. The Fourier quantile test shows that non-methane volatile organic compounds are stationary in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France and Austria. In the other 15 countries, government interventions to reduce non-methane volatile organic compounds can have lasting effects and success. The inferences and policy outcomes of the empirical results are discussed in the main body of the paper.

On the convergence of ecological footprint in African countries: New evidences from panel stationarity tests with factors and gradual shifts.

Convergence of the environmental indicators has been one of the significant research areas for researchers since the study of Strazicich and List (2003) was published. Earlier papers have concentrated on investigating the existence of the convergence of indicators of the environment by using carbon emissions as a pollution indicator. However, some researchers have criticized the use of carbon emission as a one-dimensional indicator and proposed using ecological footprint as a more comprehensive indicator. The primary aim of this paper is to examine whether stochastic convergence of ecological footprint exists in 49 African countries from 1973 to 2018 by employing a battery of traditional stationarity methods and a newly proposed stationary method with smooth shifts and a combination of p-values. The empirical results show that panel findings of the conventional stationarity test with no structural shifts reveal that ecological footprint follows a stationary process. In contrast, panel findings of the traditional stationarity method with sharp and smooth changes and the newly developed stationary method with smooth shifts and a combination of p-values reveal that ecological footprint follows a non-stationary process. Moreover, the majority of individual results show that the ecological footprint follows a convergent pattern in 38 African countries, whereas it follows a divergent pattern in the remainder. Therefore, the main finding indicates the stochastic convergence of ecological footprint in African countries is validated. The policy outcomes of the empirical results are given in the body of the paper.

Trading Kuznets curve: empirical analysis for China.

Due to inspiring growth over the past 20 years, the dynamics of Chinese exports have been the focus of many researchers. In contrast to current literature, this study examines the quadratic relationship between China's real exports to 154 partner countries and the income of trading partners from 1996 to 2019. The findings obtained from the second generational econometric analysis confirm cross-section dependence and heterogeneous slope among panel members. Second, while the GDP per capita of partner countries has a positive impact on China's exports, the quadratic of GDP per capita has a negative impact. These findings indicate an inverted U-shaped relationship between China's exports and GDP per capita of its partner countries-thus, validating the trading Kuznets curve (TKC) hypothesis. The appreciation of the Renminbi (RMB) has statistically significant negative effects on China's exports. From a policy perspective, Chinese policymakers could consider the TKC hypothesis when determining market and export strategies. Additionally, the Chinese monetary authority could consider stabilizing the value of the RMB.

The effect of growing rod lengthening technique on the sagittal spinal and the spinopelvic parameters.

PURPOSE: The aim of this retrospective clinical study is to evaluate the effect of growing rod lengthening technique on sagittal balance in relationship with the spinopelvic parameters, in early onset scoliosis (EOS). METHODS: Twenty-three patients (18 female, 5 male), with a mean age of 8.3 years during the operation (range 3.2-12.2), with EOS due to various etiologies were operated using growing rod (8 single, 15 dual) technique, between the years 2007 and 2011. The patients were operated in two different institutions and were evaluated retrospectively via the parameters on the radiographic charts including the mean curve angle, T1-S1 distance, cervical lordosis, thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis, sagittal and coronal balance, pelvic tilt, sacral slope and pelvic incidence. The parameters were measured in the preoperative and the early postoperative periods and during the last follow-up. The data obtained from the measurements were evaluated statistically. Complications were also noted. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 34.2 months (range 24-57.6). The mean thoracic kyphosis angle was 53.6° (range 25°-119°) preoperatively, 39.6° (range 20°-61°) early postoperatively (p < 0.05) and 39.9° (range 21°-65°) during the last follow-up (p < 0.05). The mean lumbar lordosis angle was -46.1° (range -67° to -13°) preoperatively, -41° (range -64° to -11°) early postoperatively (p > 0.05) and -39.7° (range -62° to -16°) during the last follow-up (p > 0.05). Average sagittal balance was measured as 0.2 cm (range -7 to 24.7 cm) preoperatively, -0.1 cm (range -6.6 to 8.5 cm) initial postoperatively (p > 0.05) and -0.2 cm (range -7.3 to 13.5 cm) during the last follow-up (p > 0.05). The average pelvic incidence was found as 46.4° (range 27°-83°) preoperatively, 45.2° (range 28°-78°) (p > 0.05) early postoperatively and 45.7° (range 28°-82°) during the last follow-up (p > 0.05). We have encountered complications in 14 patients. These consisted of eight rod fractures, seven screw pull-outs, four hook dislodgements, three proximal junctional kyphosis, two screw nut loosening, one lamina fracture, one skin slough, one superficial wound infection and one deep wound infection. CONCLUSION: Significant improvement was found in the global thoracic kyphosis angle, by comparing the preoperative, the early postoperative and the last follow-up parameters statistically (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant improvement in the spinopelvic parameters (p > 0.05). We claim that growing rod technique doesn't provide statistically significant improvement, in the sagittal spinal and the spinopelvic parameters, except for the kyphosis, in the treatment of EOS patients.

Effect of thyroid dysfunction and autoimmunity on pregnancy outcomes in low risk population.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of thyroid dysfunction and autoimmunity in early pregnancy on adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcome. METHODS: 497 pregnant women between 10 and 12 gestational age were invited who were attending for their first antenatal visit and asked to perform blood tests for thyroid function and antithyroid peroxidase antibodies. A total of 395 women were recruited in the present study. Cases were classified into four groups according to thyroid function and anti-TPO results. The pregnancy outcomes included gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, preterm delivery, cesarean rate, small for gestational age, low birth weight. RESULTS: 2.5-(OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.06-5.89) and 4.8-(OR 4.85, 95% CI 1.89-12.42) fold increase in preterm delivery was detected in groups with isolated anti-TPO positivity and subclinic hypothyroidism with anti-TPO positivity compared to reference group, respectively. No association was found between thyroid dysfunction and anti-TPO positivity with gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, cesarean rates, low birth weight and small for gestational age neonates. CONCLUSION: Pregnant women with anti-TPO antibody positivity alone or with subclinic hypothyroidism were more likely to experience a spontaneous preterm delivery.

Does Climate Change Cause an Upsurge in Food Prices?

Climate change is the reason behind most contemporary economic problems. The rising inflationary pressures in the food sector are one of these problems, and stable food prices are a necessity for economic development and social cohesion in societies. Therefore, this study analyzes the relationship between food prices and climate change in Nigeria by using various non-linear and quantile-based methods and data from 2008m5 to 2020m12. The empirical findings indicate that (i) there is a time- and frequency-based dependence between food prices and some explanatory variables, including climate change (i.e., temperature). (ii) At higher quantiles, temperature, oil prices, food exports, monetary expansion, global food prices, agricultural prices, and fertilizer prices stimulate food prices. (iii) The increase in food prices due to the rise in temperature and the difficulties in agriculture indicate that the heatflation phenomenon is present in Nigeria. The evidence outlines that Nigerian decisionmakers should adopt a national food security policy that considers environmental, agricultural, and monetary factors to stabilize food prices.

The results of closing wedge osteotomy with posterior instrumented fusion for the surgical treatment of congenital kyphosis.

PURPOSE: There exist not much data regarding the surgical treatment of pure congenital kyphosis (CK) in the literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of closing wedge osteotomy with posterior instrumented fusion in patients with congenital kyphotic deformity. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the radiographical results of 10 patients who were subject to closing wedge vertebral osteotomy and posterior instrumented fusion due to CK. The mean age of the patients at surgery was 12.6 ± 3.72 years (range 8-18 years). Radiographical measurements including local kyphosis, correction loss, global kyphosis and sagittal balance values were noted for the preoperative, postoperative and final follow up periods, respectively. The data obtained from those periods underwent statistical analysis. RESULTS: Average follow-up period was 51.8 ± 29.32 months (range 26-96 months). The mean local kyphosis angle was 67.7° ± 15.64° (range 42°-88°) prior to the surgery, 31.5° ± 17.12 (range 14°-73°) following the surgery and 31.9° ± 15.98° (range 14°-71°) during the follow up-period, respectively (p < 0.05). A correction rate of 53.5 % was reported at the final follow up. Average sagittal balance was measured as 33.1 ± 24.48 mm (range 2-77 mm) prior to the surgery, 20.8 ± 15.46 mm (range 5-46 mm) following the surgery (p < 0.05) and 14.1 ± 9.2 mm (range 0-30 mm) during follow-up period (p > 0.05). Complications consisted of a rod fracture due to pseudoarthrosis, an implant failure with loosening of screws and a proximal junctional kyphosis. No neurological deficit or deep infection were encountered in any of the patients in the study group. CONCLUSION: Closing wedge osteotomy with posterior instrumented fusion is an efficient method of surgical treatment in terms of sagittal balance restoration and deformity correction in patients with congenital kyphosis.

Convergence of Income Inequality in OECD Countries Since 1870: A Multi-Method Approach with Structural Changes.

This paper aims to examine convergence of income inequality in 21 OECD countries using several empirical techniques. In particular, we have used a new panel stationarity test, which allows for structural changes and cross-sectional dependence to examine the stochastic convergence of income inequality. We also employed a time series approach, residual augmented least squares-Lagrange multiplier unit root test. The empirical results show evidence for absolute, conditional, and sigma convergence. The conditional convergence test results suggest that countries are converging, but conditional on the two structural factors-economic and population growth. The stochastic convergence test results indicate the existence of convergence at the country-specific level. The results further confirm the existence of convergent clubs among OECD countries.

Impact of renewable energy investments in curbing sectoral CO2 emissions: evidence from China by nonlinear quantile approaches.

The study analyzes the impact of renewable energy investments (RENIV) on the environment in China. In doing so, the study uses sectoral carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as the environment indicator, considers RENIV as the explanatory variable, includes monthly data from 2004/1 to 2020/6, runs quantile on quantile regression approach as the fundamental model, and further performs quantile regression for the controlling. The study reveals that RENIV curb CO2 emissions in all sectors at higher levels of sectoral CO2 emissions. Also, RENIV have a varying impact based on quantiles and sectors. Moreover, the results are robust based on the alternative approach. Thus, RENIV have a significantly decreasing impact on sectoral CO2 emissions in China. Accordingly, China policymakers should continue to focus on providing a decrease in energy and industrial sector CO2 emissions as the highest emitting sectors.

Is Lenke type V adolescent idiopathic scoliosis associated with different muscular morphometry?

The aim of the study was to evaluate the changes in psoas major (PM), erector spinae (ES), multifidus (MF), and rectus abdominis (RA) morphometry in Lenke type V adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and control. Forty-two Lenke V AIS patients and 30 control were enrolled. The cross-sectional area (CSA) and CSA index (CI) of the PM, ES, MF, and RA at the T9-L5 levels were measured and compared between Lenke type V patients and control. The CI of the RA was significantly higher in the control group than the Lenke V group in multiple levels. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between patients with Lenke V AIS and control regarding the CI of the RA, ES, and PM. There was no significant difference between concave and convex sides of the Lenke V group regarding the CI of the RA, PM, MF, and ES. RA muscle mass is significantly affected in Lenke type 5 AIS regardless of convex or concave sides. This difference may be related to postural differences and back pain development in Lenke type 5 patients. Level of evidence: Level III.

Convergence analysis of ammonia emissions by sector and fuel source in OECD countries from 1750 to 2019 using a new Fourier-centric wavelet approach.

Although ammonia emissions are not as huge as carbon and methane emissions, they pose significant threats to ensuring environmental sustainability and productivity. However, the existing literature has paid less attention to the underlying characteristics of ammonia emissions. The chief target of this study is to investigate the stochastic convergence of ammonia emissions at the aggregate level, by sector, and by fuel source in 37 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries for more than two centuries of data. Using a newly proposed Fourier-augmented wavelet unit root test, the empirical findings reveal that the relative ammonia emissions series in most Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries follow the unit root process in the aggregate, sectoral, and fuel-specific analyses. Therefore, these findings refer to the existence of divergence, while stochastic convergence does not exist in most cases. Having a divergent pattern of ammonia emissions has several policy implications for policymakers in the context of environmental sustainability. (i) Relative ammonia emission cannot revert to its steady-state path without policy intervention, (ii) policymakers have a chance of affecting the dynamics of ammonia emissions in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. (iii) As a policy response, the study recommends the pursuant of national environmental policies with consideration to the unique characteristics of the individual countries as the non-existence of convergence of environmental series could result in a diverse level of consciousness of environmental degradation among countries with divergent patterns on emissions levels.

Wavelet and Fourier augmented convergence analysis of methane emissions in more than two centuries: implications for environmental management in OECD countries.

Addressing the challenges posed by pollutants is necessary to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 13, which involves climate change mitigation and enhancement of environmental quality. The convergence analysis of a pollutant provides information that can be useful to how to handle that pollutant across countries or regions, and previous studies mainly focused on carbon emission. However, the second most significant greenhouse gas, methane emission, was mostly ignored. The primary objective of this research is to investigate whether stochastic convergence of methane emissions is valid in 37 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries using a dataset of more than two centuries. The results obtained by using a set of traditional unit root tests and a newly proposed wavelet unit root test with a Fourier function provide overwhelming evidence for these countries' divergence of methane emissions. The policy implications resulting from the empirical findings for environmental management are discussed in the relevant sections of the paper.

Analyzing asymmetric effects of cryptocurrency demand on environmental sustainability.

When bitcoin (BTC), the first pioneering cryptocurrency was released in 2009, it was considered an apolitical currency. Besides, the possible effect of BTC and other cryptocurrencies on either financial markets or transactions has been widely discussed. However, the environmental effects of cryptocurrency demand have been ignored. Here, this study examines the nexus between cryptocurrencies and environmental degradation by employing standard and asymmetric causality methods. The Toda-Yamamoto and bootstrap-augmented Toda-Yamamoto test results reveal Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) excluding Ripple (XRP) have causal effects on environmental degradation. The Fourier-augmented Toda-Yamamoto test results show causal effects running from Bitcoin and Ripple to environmental degradation, whereas no causal effect runs from Ethereum to environmental degradation. The asymmetric causality shows causal effects from the positive shock of Bitcoin demand, negative shocks of Ripple and Ethereum demands to positive shocks of environmental degradation. Further discussions and policy implications are provided in the relevant sections of this study.

On the persistence of shocks to global CO2 emissions: a historical data perspective (0 to 2014).

Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the most important greenhouse gas. However, until now, no research has investigated the persistence of global CO2 emissions over a very long period of time. This work aims to fill this gap by examining the persistence of shocks to global CO2 emissions with a dataset of more than 2000 years. To this end, the study applies a battery of unit root tests by considering sharp and smooth structural shifts as well as the frequency domain properties of the series. Lee-Strazicich method results reveal that sharp break dates relate to the influenza pandemic of 1557 and the invention of the steam engine in 1712, and these historical events led to changes in the trend function of CO2 emissions. The findings of the Fourier Lagrange Multiplier and Fourier wavelet unit root tests illustrate that global CO2 emissions contain a unit root and do not exhibit mean-reverting behavior, thus external shocks have permanent effects on CO2 emissions. The results suggest that a reduction in global CO2 emissions is possible if effective environmental and energy policies established in international meetings such as Rio Conference, Kyoto Protocol Paris Agreement, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit are properly implemented.

Does democracy help reduce environmental degradation?

The main purpose of this study is to examine the democracy-environmental degradation nexus in 26 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries from 1990 through 2015 by using panel data estimation methods, performing well under cross-sectional dependence. Empirical results are as follows: (i) Tests show that cross-section dependence exists among panel members, and slope coefficients are heterogeneous, respectively, and (ii) long-term coefficient estimation results with Augmented Mean Group estimator show that democracy, non-renewable energy consumption, and real income per capita have statistically significant negative effects on environmental quality, whereas renewable energy consumption has a positive effect. There is also no statistically significant relationship between urbanization and environmental quality. These findings show the poor functioning of democracy in addressing environmental issues among OECD countries; therefore, raising environmental quality conflicts with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of creating strong institutions and economic growth targets. Moreover, promoting renewable energy consumption may be an effective alternative in reducing environmental degradation; therefore, it can be said that promoting clean energy use and raising the SDG environmental quality targets are in harmony.

Stochastic convergence in carbon emissions based on a new Fourier-based wavelet unit root test.

Most of the existing studies on stochastic convergence of emission have not adequately considered smooth structural changes. The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the validity of stochastic convergence at different income levels by recently proposed Fourier-based wavelet augmented Dickey-Fuller test with smooth shifts. Empirical results can be summed up as follows: (i) carbon emission per capita follows the stationarity process in 35 high-income countries, while carbon emission per capita follows the stationarity process in 27 upper-middle-income countries; (ii) besides, carbon emission per capita follows stationarity process in 30 lower-middle-income countries, while carbon emission per capita follows stationarity process in 13 low-income countries; (iii) in light of these findings, it can be said that stochastic convergence among different income groups is valid. The implications of the empirical findings for environmental planning and management are discussed in the body of the paper.