US temporarily grounds Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes after mid-flight blowout

NEWS WIRES
Sat, 6 January 2024 

© Ted S. Warren, AP

U.S. regulators have ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft following a cabin panel blowout late Friday that forced a brand-new airplane operated by Alaska Airlines to make an emergency landing.

“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said on Saturday. “Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.”

The piece of fuselage tore off the left side of the jet as it climbed out of Portland, Oregon, en route for Ontario in California on Friday, forcing pilots to turn back and land safely with 171 passengers and six crew on board.


The new MAX 9 had been in service for just eight weeks. It is the latest mishap involving Boeing's best-selling model, which was grounded for almost two years following crashes in 2018 and 2019, and comes as Boeing and a major supplier are grappling with a succession of production or quality problems.

There were no immediate indications of the cause of the apparent structural failure, nor any reports of injuries. Alaska Airlines had alreaady started grounding dozens of the Boeing jets for safety checks.

As of Saturday morning, Alaska said it had completed more than a quarter of the inspections and found no issues. Several of the jets were flying, according to tracking site FlightRadar24.

Alaska Airline CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement its fleet of 65 similar planes would be returned to service only after precautionary maintenance and safety inspections, which he expected to be completed in the "next few days."

• AP

This photo provided by an unnamed source shows the damaged part of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, Flight 1282, which was forced to return to Portland International Airport on Friday, Jan. 5, 2023. (The Oregonian via AP)

Alaska Airlines midair window blowout: 

Here's all you need to know about the Boeing 737 Max 9 plane

06 Jan 2024

Alaska Airlines grounds all Boeing 737-9 aircraft after emergency landing due to blown out window.

Alaska Airlines grounded all its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after one of its flights suffered a major damage with midair window blowout on Friday (Bloomberg)


Alaska Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft late Friday after a window and a portion of the plane's fuselage blew out shortly after take-off in Portland, Oregon, US.

After the mid-air window blowout, the airline made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon. Luckily, no one was hurt during the incident. The airline company announced to temporarily ground all of its planes for thorough maintenance and safety inspections.

Also Read: DGCA orders one-time inspection of emergency exits on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft

This is not the first time when Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft have been grounded by an airline for safety concerns. The narrow-body airplane has often landed Boeing in trouble even in the past. In 2018 and 2019, two Boeing 737 Max 8 jets crashed killing 346 people. The accidents resulted in a nearly two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. Boeing managed to bring back its planes to service only after making changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes. Despite, all these difficulties, the Boeing 737 Max continues to be one of the most successful aeroplane series of the company. Here’s all you need to know about the aircraft.

Boeing 737 Max 9

Boeing 737 Max 9 is one of the variants of Boeing 737 Max. The aircraft is based on the early designs of the 737 and is more efficient than its predecessors. Its four variants vary based on seating capacity, size, and length. Boeing 737 Max 9 has a seating capacity of178 – 193 with a seating capacity of 220 seats. It is 42.16 metre long with a wing span of 35.9 m, which is the same in all the variants.

Also Read: 90% of air passengers allege compromised comfort, cost-cutting by Indian airlines over last 2 years, says survey


View Full ImageBoeing 737 Max is manufactured in four variants based on their size and seating capacity. (Boeing)



Boeing 737 Max: When it was launched?

The Boeing 737 Max series was announced in August 2011. Five years later, the company's first Boeing 737 Max aeroplane took its maiden flight on January 29, 2016, and was certified by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in March 2017. The first delivery of Max 8 was done in May 2017 to Malindo Air, which marked the commencement of Boeing 737 Max service.

Also Read: Aviation industry aims for growth with sharp focus on supply in 2024

Boeing 737 Max: Features

The aeroplane provides an optimised aerodynamic design which includes advanced technology winglets to increase effective wingspan. This technology also helps in the reduction of fuel use and emissions. Its flight deck features four large displays to enable additional operational capability, including a larger map that increases crews’ situational awareness.

Also Read: Delhi-bound Indigo flight returns to Patna airport due to technical snag

Boeing 737 Max: Orders and deliveries

According to Boeing's official website, the company received a total of 1383 orders for Boeing 737 Max between 2022-23. Till now, the company has received a total of 7,502 orders for 737 Max (including all four variants of the plane). In 2023, the aeroplane manufacturer delivered a total of 343 737 Max aircraft (including all four variants), out of which three were delivered to India's Air India airlines.

Do Indian airlines operate Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft?

At present none of the Indian airlines operate a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft as part of their fleet, according to a press release issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday. In its release, the DGCA ordered all the Indian airlines to immediately carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet.


"Pursuant to the Alaska Airlines incident involving Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft, there have been no inputs or guidance from Boeing so far. None of the Indian air operators have a Boeing 737-9 Max as part of their fleet yet. However, as an abundant precautionary measure, DGCA has directed all the Indian air operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet," DGCA said in a post on X.

US grounds Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after Alaska Airlines flight loses part of fuselage at 16,000ft

6 January 2024, 

Passengers were left terrified after part of the fuselage blew out. Picture: Social media/Alamy

By Chay Quinn

@chayquinn

The US aviation regulator has grounded 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after part of an Alaska Airlines flight's fuselage fell off at 16,000ft on Friday.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) says it will inspect 171 in response to the shocking scenes yesterday evening.

Passengers have described how a child had to be held to his seat by his mother as part of a plane's fuselage blew out, leaving a gaping hole in the aircraft.

Travellers were left horrified after the incident forced the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 to turn around at 16,000ft and return to Portland International Airport in Oregon.

Footage taken onboard shows passengers anxiously wait for the emergency landing as they breathe into oxygen masks, with the cabin having depressurised.

They tell each other it was lucky nobody had sat next to the part that blew out.

The Association of Flight Attendants at Alaska Airlines described the decompression was "explosive".

One passenger told Portland news station KPTV that a mother held her child to his seat.

Phones were sucked out of the plane, while a child near to the blow-out lost his shirt as the cabin depressurised.

A huge hole can be seen in the left hand side of the fuselage.

Kyle Rinker told CNN: "It was really abrupt. Just got to altitude, and the window/wall just popped off and didn't notice it until the oxygen masks came off."

Vi Nguyen told the New York Times she woke up to see an oxygen mask dangling in front of her.

"And I look to the left and the wall on the side of the plane is gone. The first thing I thought was, 'I'm going to die'," she said.

"A part of the plane flew off not even 20 minutes into our flight," said one person who posted the terror on TikTok.

Read more: Passengers terrified as part of fuselage blows out forcing emergency landing as airline grounds aircraft

The pilot told air traffic control that there was an emergency, and the plane had depressurised and needed to come back.

All 174 passengers and six crew members were safe, though one crew member was slightly injured, and Alaska Airlines has grounded its 737-9 fleet.

Read more: Pilots of Japanese plane involved in horror crash didn't realise aircraft was on fire until told by crew

Ben Minicucci, the chief executive of Alaska Airlines, said: "Following tonight's event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft."

The aircraft will be brought back into use after repairs and safety inspections, which are expected to last just days.

The US National Transportation Safety Board said it was looking into what happened, as did the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Alaska Airlines grounded its 737-9 Max aircraft. Picture: Alamy

The Boeing 737-9 Max was certified two months ago and has flown 145 times since mid November.

The model is the newest version of the 737.

All Max 8 and Max 9 planes were grounded for two years after two Max 8s crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing more than 300 people.

Boeing had to make changes to the automated flight control system before they were put back into service.

The company said it was gathering more information about what happened in this incident.

"We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282," it said.

"We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer.

"A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation."

In December, it told airlines to inspect planes for a potential loose bolt in the rudder control system.

And last year, the FAA urged pilots to limit their use of an anti-ice system because of fears that inlets near the engines could over heat, break away and hit the plane.

 FIRST QUANTUM BAD CANADIAN MINER

2024 is not yet one week old we already have an important fight on our hands in Panama. The government there has declared war on SUNTRACS, a construction workers' union affiliated to the Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI). As BWI reports, SUNTRACS "is being penalized with persecutory, repressive and intimidating treatment by Panamanian authorities for its prominent role in the protests which defeated a 40-year mining concession for transnational company First Quantum Minerals. The extractive policy would have caused grave social and environmental damage." Following the success of the union campaign, the government accused union leaders of "terrorism". SUNTRACS leaders are being sued by the Public Prosecutor's Office, accused of committing crimes against freedom and the economic order to the detriment of Panamanian society. Furthermore, on 13 November, the state-owned Savings Bank closed SUNTRACS bank accounts. BWI and SUNTRACS are calling on the entire international trade union movement to show solidarity with these brave workers in Panama and demand an end to the persecution of their union. To learn more and to show your support, click here. And please share this message with your friends, family and fellow trade union members. Thank you! Eric Lee

 

Chung-Ang University study reveals a higher market valuation of cash holdings of firms adopting electronic voting

When electronic voting is adopted in shareholder meetings, shareholders perceive corporate governance as enhanced, increasing the market value of a firm’s cash holdings

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CHUNG ANG UNIVERSITY

 

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ELECTRONIC VOTING FACILITATES SHAREHOLDER PARTICIPATION IN SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS, WHICH SHAPES A POSITIVE PERCEPTION OF THE FIRM’S GOVERNANCE AND RESULTS IN A HIGHER MARKET VALUE OF CASH HOLDINGS.

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CREDIT: FOTO MIKI

Firms worldwide are increasingly adopting electronic voting, enabling shareholders to cast their votes online, instead of attending shareholder meetings in-person. Shareholders can enjoy superior accessibility to the meetings with electronic voting, compared to those with traditional and in-person setups. Despite the emerging popularity of electronic voting in recent years, however, there is limited evidence of its impact on governance.

To address this gap in research, Associate Professor Wonsuk Ha from the School of Business Administration, Chung-Ang University, along with Eugenia Lee from the Department of Business Administration, Sejong University, provide empirical evidence on the benefits of electronic voting by examining its effect on the market value of cash holdings.  Their research was published in Volume 89 of International Review of Financial Analysis in October 2023.

A firm’s cash holdings, in theory, should be valued at their nominal value. However, in the capital markets, they are valued differently depending on investors’ expectations of how they will be used. For instance, investors may assign a lower value to a firm’s cash holdings if they have any concerns about the potential misuse of funds by the management. Conversely, when investors believe the firm to be well-managed and prioritize shareholders’ interest, they attribute a higher value to its cash holdings.

In the present study, the authors suggest that electronic voting enhances shareholders’ perception of corporate governance and increases the market value of a firm's cash holdings. “Electronic voting can contribute to effective corporate governance by easing shareholders’ monitoring and engagement in corporate decisions, which improves the firm’s investment decisions, resulting in increased market valuation of a firm’s cash holdings,” explains Dr. Ha.

Using a sample of 12,207 Korean firm-years from 2015 to 2021, the authors examined how the market valuation of cash holdings differs for firms that adopt electronic voting in shareholder meetings. They exploited a Korean setting, which is best suited for this study because Korean firms are mandated to hold in-person shareholder meetings, with electronic voting being optional. This approach allowed the authors to focus on the effect of electronic voting that increases shareholder accessibility without eliminating the traditional on-site component of shareholder meetings.

The authors found that firms that adopt electronic voting have a greater market value of cash holdings compared to those that did not. This effect is more pronounced for firms with larger free cash flows, suggesting that the governance effect of electronic voting is stronger for firms subject to higher risks of asset misappropriation. This finding reinforces the hypothesis that electronic voting helps mitigate shareholders’ concern on the misuse of cash by management.

Moreover, they found that the impact of electronic voting on the value of cash holdings is more prominent for firms with larger ownership by minority shareholders. This result suggests that electronic voting eases shareholders’ participation in shareholder meetings, which can alleviate potential conflicts between controlling and minority shareholders.

Overall, the study provides evidence pointing to the benefits of electronic voting. However, the study also suggests that the governance effect of electronic voting could be muted if electronic voting fails to increase shareholder participation or if it attracts unsophisticated investors who make suboptimal decisions.

The authors emphasize the need to explore other dimensions to fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of the electronic voting system. Dr. Ha says, “It should be noted that the governance implications observed in this study reflect only one aspect of the benefits and costs associated with the electronic voting system. A complete picture of the system’s advantages and disadvantages will only emerge upon further research on this subject.”

Despite these considerations, the findings from this study undoubtedly offer valuable insights for policymakers looking to adopt electronic voting to encourage shareholders’ participation in shareholder meetings and enhance corporate governance practices.

 

***

 

Reference

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102718

Authors: Eugenia Y. Lee1 and Wonsuk Ha2,

Affiliations      

1Department of Business Administration, Sejong University

2School of Business Administration, Chung-Ang University

 

About Chung-Ang University

Chung-Ang University is a private comprehensive research university located in Seoul, South Korea. It was started as a kindergarten in 1916 and attained university status in 1953. It is fully accredited by the Ministry of Education of Korea. Chung-Ang University conducts research activities under the slogan of “Justice and Truth.” Its new vision for completing 100 years is “The Global Creative Leader.” Chung-Ang University offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs, which encompass a law school, management program, and medical school; it has 16 undergraduate and graduate schools each. Chung-Ang University’s culture and arts programs are considered the best in Korea.

Website: https://neweng.cau.ac.kr/index.do

 

 

About Associate Professor Wonsuk Ha

Wonsuk Ha is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Chung-Ang Business School, Chung-Ang University. His primary research interest lies in the areas of financial accounting and auditing, including corporate governance, securities class actions, institutional investors, corporate disclosure, auditors’ behavior and incentive, and economic effects of accounting standards and policies. He joined Chung-Ang University in 2021 after receiving a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Seoul National University. Before pursuing an academic career, he had worked as a certified public accountant at Samil PwC.

Website: https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/cau/researcher-profile?ep=1365

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JOURNAL

International Review of Financial Analysis

DOI

10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102718 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Systematic review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Electronic voting in shareholder meetings and the market value of cash holdings

 

Soft robotic, wearable device improves walking for individual with Parkinson’s disease

Robotic exosuit eliminated gait freezing, a common and highly debilitating symptom

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HARVARD JOHN A. PAULSON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES

 

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THE ROBOTIC GARMENT (ABOVE), WORN AROUND THE HIPS AND THIGHS, GIVES A GENTLE PUSH TO THE HIPS AS THE LEG SWINGS, HELPING THE PATIENT ACHIEVE A LONGER STRIDE. 

 

 

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CREDIT: (CREDIT: WALSH BIODESIGN LAB/HARVARD SEAS)

Freezing is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 9 million people worldwide. When individuals with Parkinson’s disease freeze, they suddenly lose the ability to move their feet, often mid-stride, resulting in a series of staccato stutter steps that get shorter until the person stops altogether. These episodes are one of the biggest contributors to falls among people living with Parkinson’s disease. 

Today, freezing is treated with a range of pharmacological, surgical or behavioral therapies, none of which are particularly effective. 

What if there was a way to stop freezing altogether?

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Boston University Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences have used a soft, wearable robot to help a person living with Parkinson’s walk without freezing. The robotic garment, worn around the hips and thighs, gives a gentle push to the hips as the leg swings, helping the patient achieve a longer stride. 

The device completely eliminated the participant’s freezing while walking indoors, allowing them to walk faster and further than they could without the garment’s help. 

“We found that just a small amount of mechanical assistance from our soft robotic apparel delivered instantaneous effects and consistently improved walking across a range of conditions for the individual in our study,” said Conor Walsh, the Paul A. Maeder Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SEAS and co-corresponding author of the study. 

The research demonstrates the potential of soft robotics to treat this frustrating and potentially dangerous symptom of Parkinson’s disease and could allow people living with the disease to regain not only their mobility but their independence. 

The research is published in Nature Medicine. 

For over a decade, Walsh’s Biodesign Lab at SEAS has been developing assistive and rehabilitative robotic technologies to improve mobility for individuals’ post-stroke and those living with ALS or other diseases that impact mobility. Some of that technology, specifically an exosuit for post-stroke gait retraining, received support from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and was licensed and commercialized by ReWalk Robotics.

In 2022, SEAS and Sargent College received a grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to support the development and translation of next-generation robotics and wearable technologies. The research is centered at the Move Lab, whose mission is to support advances in human performance enhancement with the collaborative space, funding, R&D infrastructure, and experience necessary to turn promising research into mature technologies that can be translated through collaboration with industry partners.

This research emerged from that partnership.

“Leveraging soft wearable robots to prevent freezing of gait in patients with Parkinson’s required a collaboration between engineers, rehabilitation scientists, physical therapists, biomechanists and apparel designers,” said Walsh, whose team collaborated closely with that of Terry Ellis,  Professor and Physical Therapy Department Chair and Director of the Center for Neurorehabilitation at Boston University. 

The team spent six months working with a 73-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease, who — despite using both surgical and pharmacologic treatments — endured substantial and incapacitating freezing episodes more than 10 times a day, causing him to fall frequently. These episodes prevented him from walking around his community and forced him to rely on a scooter to get around outside. 

In previous research, Walsh and his team leveraged human-in-the-loop optimization to demonstrate that a soft, wearable device could be used to augment hip flexion and assist in swinging the leg forward to provide an efficient approach to reduce energy expenditure during walking in healthy individuals.  

Here, the researchers used the same approach but to address freezing. The wearable device uses cable-driven actuators and sensors worn around the waist and thighs. Using motion data collected by the sensors, algorithms estimate the phase of the gait and generate assistive forces in tandem with muscle movement.

The effect was instantaneous. Without any special training, the patient was able to walk without any freezing indoors and with only occasional episodes outdoors. He was also able to walk and talk without freezing, a rarity without the device. 

“Our team was really excited to see the impact of the technology on the participant’s walking,” said Jinsoo Kim, former PhD student at SEAS and co-lead author on the study. 

During the study visits, the participant told researchers: “The suit helps me take longer steps and when it is not active, I notice I drag my feet much more. It has really helped me, and I feel it is a positive step forward. It could help me to walk longer and maintain the quality of my life.” 

“Our study participants who volunteer their time are real partners,” said Walsh. “Because mobility is difficult, it was a real challenge for this individual to even come into the lab, but we benefited so much from his perspective and feedback.” 

The device could also be used to better understand the mechanisms of gait freezing, which is poorly understood. 

“Because we don’t really understand freezing, we don’t really know why this approach works so well,” said Ellis. “But this work suggests the potential benefits of a ’bottom-up’ rather than ’top-down’ solution to treating gait freezing. We see that restoring almost-normal biomechanics alters the peripheral dynamics of gait and may influence the central processing of gait control.”

The research was co-authored by Jinsoo Kim, Franchino Porciuncula, Hee Doo Yang, Nicholas Wendel, Teresa Baker and Andrew Chin. Asa Eckert-Erdheim and Dorothy Orzel also contributed to the design of the technology, as well as Ada Huang, and Sarah Sullivan managed the clinical research. It was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant CMMI-1925085; the National Institutes of Health under grant NIH U01 TR002775; and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Collaborative Research and Development Matching Grant. 

Soft robotic, wearable device improves walking for individual with Parkinson’s disease (VIDEO)

HARVARD JOHN A. PAULSON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES

Researchers at SEAS and the BU’s Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences used a soft, wearable robot to help a person living with Parkinson’s walk without freezing. The robotic garment, worn around the hips and thighs, gives a gentle push to the hips as the leg swings, helping the patient achieve a longer stride. The research demonstrates the potential of soft robotics to treat a potentially dangerous symptom of Parkinson’s disease and could allow people living with the disease to regain their mobility and independence. 

CREDIT

Harvard SEAS

JOURNAL

Nature Medicine

DOI

10.1038/s41591-023-02731-8 

 

African One Health network launched to prevent disease

Leipzig University coordinates project to prevent antimicrobial resistance and neglected tropical diseases

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITÄT LEIPZIG

 

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THE TEAM OF THE AFRICAN ONE HEALTH NETWORK FOR DISEASE PREVENTION (ADAPT). THE COORDINATOR IS DR AHMED ABD EL WAHED (RIGHT).

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CREDIT: @ADAPTONEHEALTH

“The aim of our multidisciplinary and broad-based project is to establish antimicrobial stewardship in sub-Saharan Africa and to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases through a One Health approach,” says Dr Ahmed Abd El Wahed. Research institutions from the seven countries involved in this network – Uganda, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Sudan – will define and analyse a range of biological-medical and socio-cultural factors and investigate how they affect human, animal and environmental health in sub-Saharan Africa.

Targeted involvement of policy-makers

The targeted involvement of local, regional and national stakeholders from the participating countries in the network over the entire project period (2023 to 2027) is intended to enhance their technical expertise and thus increase the efficiency of the network as a whole. “We involve policy-makers and other key stakeholders in the ministries of health and other institutions in the network countries in our work. This is how we hope to achieve the project’s objectives,” explains Abd El Wahed.

This project is working on comprehensive work packages to increase antimicrobial stewardship capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, including screening for antimicrobial resistance in humans, cattle and poultry; creating capacity for on-demand diagnostics of antimicrobial resistance and neglected tropical diseases using mobile tests for field use; studying the possible changes in the incidence of AMR following the increased use of antimicrobials before, during and possibly after the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa; controlling communicable diseases, particularly AMR, by evaluating and improving existing hygiene practices at the human-animal-environmental interface; and building capacity for sustainable guidance on antimicrobial stewardship.

Drawing on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the disastrous consequences of ignoring the value of comprehensive prevention approaches and instead prioritising isolated and limited interventions,” says Professor Uwe Truyen from Leipzig University, co-director of the project, adding that communication, cooperation and coordination between the human, animal and environmental systems are therefore essential to prevent the impact of communicable diseases, especially zoonotic diseases, and to combat and control these infections. It is also important to consider human socio-cultural factors, which act as independent variables. Inequality and vulnerability in human populations are two such socio-cultural factors that can exacerbate negative health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa clearly demonstrated this, as countries there were unable to sufficiently recognise, evaluate and address these complex challenges from a One Health perspective. The ADAPT project aims to further develop the capacity to adapt to these challenges and to address weaknesses in the prevention of communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. 

The ADAPT network is part of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research-funded Research Network for Health Innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa (RHISSA).

 

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JOURNAL

Nature Medicine

DOI

10.1038/s41591-023-02666-0 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

An African One Health network for antimicrobial resistance and neglected tropical diseases

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Jan-2024

 

Social impact assessment of the Giant Panda National Park in China: a comparative analysis of the inside, gateway, and fringe communities

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HIGHER EDUCATION PRESS

 

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CATEGORIES AND INTERPRETATION OF THE SOCIAL IMPACTS

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CREDIT: YUQI ZHANG, YIN ZHANG

Social impact assessment is a practical requirement for the construction of the national park system, but there is still a lack of comprehensive conceptual frameworks, theoretical explanations, and systematic evaluations. Considering the distinctive characteristics of China’s national park system construction, this study improves the existing framework and indicator system for social impact assessment. It conducts a comparative analysis of three typical communities—the inside community, gateway community, and fringe community—surrounding the Giant Panda National Park (Tangjiahe area). Through questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews, factor analysis, and One-way ANOVA analysis, we find that the comprehensive perception value of social impacts by the Giant Panda National Park was relatively negative. Respondents’ perception values ranked from high to low were social relations, local culture, equity and rights, economy and livelihoods, and knowledge and education. Moreover, except the dimension of economy and livelihoods, there were significant differences in the perception of impacts by the three types of communities. Specifically, the gateway community has the most positive perception of social relations, local culture, and equity and rights; the inside community has the most positive perception of knowledge and education; while the fringe community perceived the most negative impacts in all four dimensions. Furthermore, the primary causes of social impact perception are conservation policies, economic development, and location and transportation. This study suggests that non-economic social impacts should be given more attention, such as equity and rights, and knowledge and education. Also, to ensure that the fringe communities can benefit from the construction and development of national parks, more attention and support from the governments and management agencies are necessary. This study can provide theoretical insights and case-based evidence for the improvement of social impact discussions on protected areas.

 

The work entitled “Social Impact Assessment of the Giant Panda National Park in China: A Comparative Analysis of the Inside, Gateway, and Fringe Communities” was published on the journal of Landscape Architecture Frontiers.

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JOURNAL

Landscape Architecture Frontiers

DOI

10.15302/J-LAF-1-020078 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Social Impact Assessment of the Giant Panda National Park in China: A Comparative Analysis of the Inside, Gateway, and Fringe Communities

 

Plate Tectonics in the Archean: Observation versus Interpretation

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

 

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ANCIENT PLATE TECTONICS IN THE ARCHEAN PERIOD DIFFERS FROM MODERN PLATE TECTONICS IN THE PHANEROZOIC PERIOD BECAUSE OF THE HIGHER MANTLE TEMPERATURES INSIDE THE EARLY EARTH, THE THICKER BASALTIC CRUST, AND THE NON-DEPLETION OF MELT-MOBILE INCOMPATIBLE TRACE ELEMENTS IN THE MANTLE.

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CREDIT: ©SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

The plate tectonics theory established in the 20th century has been successful in interpreting many geological phenomena, processes and events that have occurred in the Phanerozoic. However, the theory has often struggled to provide a coherent framework in interpreting geological records not only in the continental interior but also in the Precambrian period. In the traditional plate tectonics theory dealing with the relationship between plate tectonics and continental geology, continental interior tectonics was often separated from continental margin tectonics in the inheritance and development of their structure and composition. This separation led to the illusion as if the plate tectonics theory is not applicable to Precambrian geology, particularly in interpreting the fundamental geological characteristics of Archean cratons.

This integrated study is presented by Prof. Yong-Fei Zheng at University of Science and Technology of China. It focuses on available observations from Archean geology and inspects their interpretations against the following three characteristic features in the Archean Earth: (1) convective mantle temperatures were as high as 1500-1700°C, (2) newly formed basaltic oceanic crust was as thick as 30-40 km, and (3) the asthenosphere had a composition similar to the primitive mantle rather than the depleted mantle at present. On this basis, the author has successfully applied the plate tectonics theory in the 21st century to interpretation of major geological phenomena on Archean cratons (Fig. 1). The results eliminate the illusion that the Archean continental crust did not originate from a regime of plate tectonics.

Through upgrading the plate tectonics theory from the traditional kinematic model in the 20th century to a holistic kinematic-dynamic model in the 21st century and systematically examining the vertical transport of matter and energy at plate margins, it is evident that plate tectonics can interpret the common geological characteristics of Archean cratons, such as lithological associations, structural patterns and metamorphic evolution. By deciphering the structure and composition of convergent plate margins as well as their dynamics, the formation and evolution of continental crust since the Archean can be divided into ancient plate tectonics in the Precambrian and modern plate tectonics in the Phanerozoic.

This approach provides a new perspective on and deep insights into the evolution of early Earth and the origin of continental crust. It leads to the development of alternative tectonic models, envisaging vertical movements in the realm of stagnant lid tectonics, including not only bottom-up processes such as mantle plumes and heat pipes but also top-down processes such as lithospheric foundering and subduction (Fig. 2). In fact, these vertical processes were not unique to the Archean but persisted into the Phanerozoic. They result from mantle poloidal convection at different depths, not specific to any particular period in Earth’s history.

Furthermore, Archean tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) rocks would result from partial melting of the over-thick basaltic oceanic crust at convergent plate margins. The structural patterns of gneissic domes and greenstone keels would result from the buoyancy-driven emplacement of TTG magmas and its interaction with the basaltic crust at fossil convergent margins, and komatiites in greenstone belts would be the product of mantle plume activity in the regime of ancient plate tectonics. The widespread distribution of high-grade metamorphic rocks in a planar fashion, rather than in zones, is ascrible to separation of the gneissic domes from the greenstone belts.

In addition, volcanic associations in the Archean are short of calc-alkaline andesites, suggests the shortage of sediment accretionary wedges derived from weathering of granitic continental crust above oceanic subduction zones. Penrose-type ophiolites are absent in Archean igneous associations, which can be ascribed to the formation of basalt accretionary wedges during the subduction initiation of microplates when only the upper volcanic rocks of mid-ocean ridges were offscrapped from the incipiently subducting slab. The absence of blueschist and eclogite as well as classic paired metamorphic belts suggests that convergent plate margins were over-thickened through either warm subduction or hard collision of the thick oceanic crust at moderate geothermal gradients. Therefore, only by correctly recognizing and understanding the nature of Archean cartons can plate tectonics reasonably interpret their fundamental geological characteristics.

As soon as the upgraded version of plate tectonic theory in the 21st century is integrated with the three characteristic features of Archean Earth, it can make a revolutionary progress in resolving the previous challenges to interpretations of the Archean continental geology. Therefore, this article provide robust arguments for deciphering of the inheritance and development relationships between ancient and modern plate tectonics regimes. The results not only contribute to the origin and evolution of continental crust on early Earth but also shed light on the geodynamic mechanism of how early Earth evolved from stagnant lid tectonics to mobile lid tectonics.

 

See the article:

Zheng Y-F. 2024. Plate tectonics in the Archean: Observations versus interpretations. Science China Earth Sciences, 67(1): 1-30;

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-023-1210-5

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JOURNAL

Science China Earth Sciences

DOI

10.1007/s11430-023-1210-5