JcSEUSS1 negatively regulates reproductive organ development in perennial woody Jatropha curcas.

MAIN CONCLUSION: Overexpression of JcSEUSS1 resulted in late flowering, reduced flower number, wrinkled kernels, and decreased seed yield in Jatopha curcas, while downregulation of JcSEUSS1 increased flower number and seed production. The seed oil of Jatropha curcas is suitable as an ideal alternative for diesel fuel, yet the seed yield of Jatropha is restricted by its small number of female flowers and low seed setting rate. Therefore, it is crucial to identify genes that regulate flowering and seed set, and hence improve seed yield. In this study, overexpression of JcSEUSS1 resulted in late flowering, fewer flowers and fruits, and smaller fruits and seeds, causing reduced seed production and oil content. In contrast, the downregulation of JcSEUSS1 by RNA interference (RNAi) technology caused an increase in the flower number and seed yield. However, the flowering time, seed number per fruit, seed weight, and size exhibited no obvious changes in JcSEUSS1-RNAi plants. Moreover, the fatty acid composition also changed in JcSEUSS1 overexpression and RNAi plants, the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids (FAs) was increased in overexpression plants, and the saturated FAs were increased in RNAi plants. These results indicate that JcSEUSS1 played a negative role in regulating reproductive growth and worked redundantly with other genes in the regulation of flowering time, seed number per fruit, seed weight, and size.

The impact of collective action dilemma on vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from China.

Vaccine hesitancy has dramatically decreased the speed of vaccination and stalled global health development. While the factors influencing vaccine hesitancy and mitigation measures have been explored in depth by existing studies, research from the perspective of human interaction is lacking. Based on the theory of collective action, this paper analyzes how free riding behavior affects vaccine hesitancy and how the vaccine hesitancy caused by free riding behavior can be solved. Using 2,203 survey data sets from China, this paper examines the influence of the collective action dilemma - represented by free riding behavior - on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The empirical results show that the existence of free riding behavior is an essential cause of vaccine hesitancy. Based on this conclusion, this paper discusses how to further alleviate the problem of vaccine hesitancy caused by collective action dilemmas by promoting cooperation. The findings of this paper may be helpful to promote various types of vaccines and further suggest that countries should assume the perspective of solving the collective action dilemma to achieve increased vaccination rates.

How can COVID-19 vaccines benefit people? A study based on the theory of the commons.

COVID-19 vaccination is a fundamental step toward controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and defusing the public health crisis it has caused. Existing studies have demonstrated that equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines can only be achieved if these vaccines are treated as public goods. The question remains how to transform COVID-19 vaccines into public goods. In this paper, based on the theory of commons governance, the theoretical mechanism is analyzed to realize the adequate distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Furthermore, feasible methods on how COVID-19 vaccines can benefit the people through the successful popularization of these vaccines in China are summarized. The results show that to ensure adequate supply of COVID-19 vaccines, government intervention is required because the government can expand the supply of the vaccine by balancing individual benefits for producing enterprises and the overall benefits for society. The government can also guarantee the right of every member in society to receive COVID-19 vaccines, thus enabling these vaccines to benefit the whole nation. By analyzing how COVID-19 vaccines benefit the people, this paper further verifies that national intervention plays an essential role in the supply and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in both developed and developing countries. It may further mean that state intervention can play an essential role in continuing to respond to major public health events in the possible future.

Common Demand vs. Limited Supply-How to Serve the Global Fight against COVID-19 through Proper Supply of COVID-19 Vaccines.

Vaccination plays an essential role in the fight against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The currently insufficient vaccine production capacity makes it difficult to balance supply with demand, which has led to a contradiction between command demand and limited supply. According to analysis based on game theory, the attributes of COVID-19 vaccines vary with supply strategies formulated by vaccine-producing countries. This means that vaccine-receiving countries can only be motivated to prepare operable vaccine distribution plans through the supply of COVID-19 vaccines as global public goods. The rational distribution of global public goods must be guaranteed by a global supply institution system. To that end, Elinor Ostrom's eight design principles provide a basis for designing such a global supply system. This paper proposes a nested institution solution for guaranteeing the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines based on the design principles, which include clearly defined boundaries, proportional equivalence between benefits and costs, collective-choice arrangements, monitoring, graduated sanctions, conflict-resolution mechanisms, minimal recognition of rights to organize, and nested enterprises. To win this global fight against COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines must not only be treated as global public goods, but countries must also be urged to coordinate cooperation in global institutional design, thus ensuring that COVID-19 vaccines can truly benefit all mankind.