WASHINGTON REPORT

FNIH will manage an ACTIV steering committee to develop an inventory of potential candidates, launch master protocols with a single control arm, and set criteria for ranking potential candidates for first-wave and subsequent evaluation. [...]a third group will tap NIH's extensive clinical trial network infrastructure to build capacity for expediting trials and to study different populations and disease stages. ?o advance vaccine development, another ACTIV group will form a collaborative framework to map epitopes and develop assays, establish protocols for sampling and immunological analyses, collect clinical data on immunological responses and endpoints, and engage with regulators on surrogate endpoints for clinical evaluation. Jill Wechsler MULTIPLE WEBSITES IDENTIFY AND TRACK RESEARCH ON COVID Widespread research activity is available from these and other organizations: * The University of Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicines lists more than 1000 clinical trials at http:// covid19.trialstracker.net/index.html * Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with Cytel identifies more than 600 trials in the US and other regions at https://covid19-trialscom * TranspariMed offers a guide to multiple trials at https://www.transparimed.org/ * Bi°Century tracks vaccines and therapeutics in its COVID-19 Resource Center, https://www.biocentury.com/ clinical-vaccines-and-therapies * World Health Organization: https://www. who.int/emergencies/diseases/novelcoronavirus-2019/global-researchon-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/ * Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society: https://www.raps.org/newsand-articles/news-articles/2020/3/ covid-19-therapeutics-tracker

FAIR TAXATION UNDER THE GLOBAL ANTI-BASE EROSION RULES?

In 2021 the OECD launched the Global Minimum Company Tax to implement the Action 1 of the BEPS Project. This instrument has seen as a good mechanism to prevent company avoiding taxes at the global level and to stop existence of the harmful tax regimes worldwide, as well as a good mechanism to achieve fair taxation in the era of global digitalization. However, the broke-out of the COVID-19 pandemic and, consequently, the close of the national borders, then armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, boost financial crisis and the crises in almost all social and industrial spheres at the global level. Such unwilling trend, between all, has influenced behavior of the companies and the initial optimism of the OECD and other international organizations that the global minimum company tax, at the very end, would end existence of the harmful tax regimes, tax avoidance and unfair taxation, dropped significantly. Therefore, at the very end of the 2022 and the beginning of the 2023, the OECD launched consultation document on tax certainty in the application of the Pillar Two of the global minimum tax known as a GloBE (Global Anti-Base Erosion) Model Rules. This paper deals with mentioned issue and actual problems that the application of the GLoBE rules is faced with.

Environmental Sustainability and Territorial Competitiveness: A Comparison between Italian Provinces

The emergence of globalisation and the removal of obstacles between markets have heightened rivalry between territorial areas. To have a competitive advantage, the regions have to be unique. As one of the tactics used to boost their reputation on a territorial level, territories are progressively adopting environmental policies for sustainable and shared prosperity. Indeed, effective management of urban growth depends heavily on sustainable development. In this regard, the literature occasionally refers to the "green branding” of cities, a strategy that makes use of environmental aspects to boost the allure of metropolitan environments. There is currently little consensus in the literature on the measuring of environmental performance, and no statistical study has been done to confirm the efficacy of these measures in terms of territorial competitiveness. Therefore, it is important to determine whether there is a relationship between a territory's level of sustainability and competitiveness in Italy. According to the statistical analysis of the Italian provinces, the Northeast, Northwest, Centre, and Islands are the four geographical regions with the highest average scores. This unquestionably indicates a basic comprehension and supports the notion that there is a relationship between the two variables. However, it also serves as a warning about how geographical disparities in Italy represent a major issue affecting the most diverse sectors. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic problem has drastically altered consumer demands and goals, leading consumers to seek out more sustainable travel and cities that are designed with citizens' requirements in mind. It will therefore become more and more important to research how public and private administrators, as well as policy makers, react to these changes.

HOW FAR WILL EUROPEAN DRUG INDUSTRY 'COMMITMENTS' ON COVID RESONATE?

According to Jean-Christophe Tellier, EFPIA president and CEO of UCB Pharma, the industry is "continuing to donate money and in-kind support to health systems, governments, and organizations on the ground, pulling out every stop to ensure the safe supply of medicines to the patients that need them," and "working around the clock to find new vaccines, diagnostics and treatments." Industry is expanding its manufacturing capabilities and sharing available capacity to ramp up production "once a successful medicine or vaccine is developed," and in the meantime, it is directly linking with regulatory authorities to provide information about stock, manufacturing capacity, and market tensions so as to head off potential disruptions or shortages. [...]the industry commitment most likely to strike a chord with many of the industry's inveterate critics, who have not ceased to push for patent limitations and price controls in a post-COVID world, is "working with governments and health systems to ensure that when new treatments and vaccines are approved they are available and affordable."

Ensino e formação virtuais: a nova estratégia do projeto de educação a serviço do capital

O artigo desenvolve a hipótese de que há uma íntima relação entre os interesses do capital e educação como estratégia na construção dos sujeitos que vão disputar um mercado de trabalho escasso, precário e instável. Analisa alguns documentos dos organismos multilaterais, seus mecanismos ideológicos e estratégias acionadas na direção de construir consensos sobre a necessidade de um "novo” projeto educacional, no qual há a substituição lenta e gradual do ensino presencial, via sistemas híbridos. Está em curso a mudança mais concreta, completa e complexa do ensino/educação: sua virtualização ou digitalização, que foi projetada desde a reforma de Bolonha (1999). Concluímos que o capital, em sua busca de valorização, encontrou na pandemia as estratégias e táticas para a continuidade e intensificação do uso de tecnologias digitais na educação, transformando-a em ensino à distância e impondo um novo projeto educacional. Este projeto encontrou uma oportunidade e uma justificativa sem precedentes: a Covid-19.Alternate :The article develops the hypothesis that there's an intimate relationship between the interests of capital and education, as a strategy in the construction of individuals who will compete in a scarce, precarious and unstable labor market. It analyzes documents from multilateral organizations, their ideological mechanisms and strategies used with the intention of building consensus on the need for a "new” educational project, in which there is a slow and gradual replacement of classroom teaching, via hybrid systems. The most concrete, complete and complex change in teaching/education is underway: it's virtualization or digitalization, which has been projected since the Bologna reform (1999). We conclude that capital, in it's search for valorization, found strategies and tactics in the pandemic for the continuity and intensification of the use of digital technologies in education, transforming it into distance learning and imposing a new educational project. This project found an unprecedented opportunity and justification: Covid-19.

Enseñanza y formación virtual: una nueva estrategia para el proyecto educativo al servicio de la capital

O artigo desenvolve a hipótese de que há uma íntima relação entre os interesses do capital e educação como estratégia na construção dos sujeitos que vão disputar um mercado de trabalho escasso, precário e instável. Analisa alguns documentos dos organismos multilaterais, seus mecanismos ideológicos e estratégias acionadas na direção de construir consensos sobre a necessidade de um "novo” projeto educacional, no qual há a substituição lenta e gradual do ensino presencial, via sistemas híbridos. Está em curso a mudança mais concreta, completa e complexa do ensino/educação: sua virtualização ou digitalização, que foi projetada desde a reforma de Bolonha (1999). Concluímos que o capital, em sua busca de valorização, encontrou na pandemia as estratégias e táticas para a continuidade e intensificação do uso de tecnologias digitais na educação, transformando-a em ensino à distância e impondo um novo projeto educacional. Este projeto encontrou uma oportunidade e uma justificativa sem precedentes: a Covid-19.Alternate :The article develops the hypothesis that there's an intimate relationship between the interests of capital and education, as a strategy in the construction of individuals who will compete in a scarce, precarious and unstable labor market. It analyzes documents from multilateral organizations, their ideological mechanisms and strategies used with the intention of building consensus on the need for a "new” educational project, in which there is a slow and gradual replacement of classroom teaching, via hybrid systems. The most concrete, complete and complex change in teaching/education is underway: it's virtualization or digitalization, which has been projected since the Bologna reform (1999). We conclude that capital, in it's search for valorization, found strategies and tactics in the pandemic for the continuity and intensification of the use of digital technologies in education, transforming it into distance learning and imposing a new educational project. This project found an unprecedented opportunity and justification: Covid-19.

Exploring global careers: Individual mobility and organizational management

This chapter explores individual careers that involve living and working in different countries. Such international careers are increasingly common among global professionals. The management of global careerists is a challenge for organizations and global mobility (GM) departments due to the many micro- and mesoelements that have an influence on the outcomes of working abroad. Career counselors would benefit from understanding the key determinants of working in GM in order to refine suggested career interventions. Therefore, the chapter discusses organizational considerations, the roles of GM professionals, and their particular challenges. Moreover, it proposes a framework for GM work and presents reflections on the impact of COVID-19 on GM, delineating recent substantial changes to global careers and their impact on those who manage GM. The chapter predominantly focuses on the micro- and mesolevel perspectives and, at times, depicts the wider context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Women's Participation in Firms' Management and Their Impact on Financial Performance: Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Period Evidence

At a time when gender equality is a key priority of all international organizations, this paper can be considered a remarkable contribution to the role of women executives in firms' performance. More specifically, this study focuses on the effect of women holding positions of responsibility on firms' performance worldwide. For the purposes of our research, we applied cross-sectional and panel data analysis for all sectors at an international level from 2019, the year preceding the breakout of the pandemic crisis, to 2021, while the indicators used to measure the participation of women in executive positions are classified as ESG indices. The empirical analysis findings end up showing that the participation of women in executive positions positively affects firms' performance over time, while there is no material change observed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic period. More specifically, when the percent of women processing job positions of responsibility increases by 10%, then the index of profitability will increase from 1.4% to 1.8%, regardless of the measurement of female participation in executive positions used. The results of this study constitute a remarkable contribution to the promotion of the creative economy, the progress of societies, and sustainable development. The research's outcome can be primarily used by policymakers drawing up policies for achieving gender equality in the labor market and workplaces and by shareholders and firms' managers in order to trust females in executive positions in favor of their firms' financial performance. The current study is unique in that it focuses on the period before and during the COVID-19 period, as a period of high volatility in economic activity worldwide, while the sample includes firms from large and mid-cap companies belonging to developed and emerging markets. The above approach will contribute to providing more credible information related to the role of women executives in firms' performance.

Institutional Differences and the Choice of Outward Foreign Direct Investment Mode under the "Belt and Road” Initiative: Experience Analysis Based on China's Manufacturing Enterprises

Based on 1692 outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) events of 735 A-share listed companies in China's manufacturing industry from 2010 to 2019, this paper empirically examines the effect of investment motivation and the impact of institutional differences between China and the host country on the choice of OFDI entry mode;the paper also investigates the moderating effect of the "Belt and Road” Initiative (BRI) on Chinese manufacturing enterprises (CMEs) through use of the logit model. The empirical results show that, with greater institutional differences, CMEs become more inclined to choose cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Furthermore, a positive moderating effect of resource-seeking motivation on the choice of M&A OFDI by CMEs is observed. The signing of the "Belt and Road” cooperation document positively moderates institutional differences in promoting CMEs—especially state-owned CMEs—to choose the M&A mode. The "Belt and Road” Initiative provides an efficient supply system for OFDI by CMEs. This study enriches and extends existing institutional theories and provides suggestions for the promotion of the geopolitical pattern and international cooperation regarding the "Belt and Road” Initiative.

An Explorative Study of Resilience Influence on Business Performance of Korean Manufacturing Venture Enterprise

Due to the recent trend of sustainability and socio-economic changes and to expand the research on resilient supply chains in Korea, this study targets Korean venture companies to ensure their success and growth. This study aims to analyze the reliance factors affecting the business performance of Korean manufacturing venture enterprises by considering two types of business performance: technology and financial performance. Regarding the factors influencing business performance, this study analyzes five resilience factors: product structure intensity, brand intensity, research and development intensity, cooperation, and corporate social responsibility. Business years were used as control variables and the causal relationship between the factors was analyzed using SPSS 22. The results show that all resilience factors positively influenced technology performance. The results for the financial performance show research and development intensity and corporate social responsibility. However, cooperation only shows different results between technology performance and financial performance. Based on these results, this study provides implications and contributions for manufacturing venture enterprises.

The history of hunger: Counting calories to make global food security legible

The Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) is one of the most central indicators informing the international development agenda. Reported annually by the Rome-based UN agencies in their flagship report The State of Food Insecurity in the World, it is generally considered an authoritative statistic on world hunger. Based on archival research, this article chronicles and analyzes the development of its statistical model and the political and historical context of its revisions. We show that revisions to the PoU model have led to substantial changes in the estimates of the indicator and that this has underpinned shifting policy narratives and trends in the fight against hunger. Major changes in the statistical model inverted the PoU's trend lines towards the end of the Millennium Development Goals period. In 2020, access to new historical datasets from China in the year after the country's candidate became Director General in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2019, dramatically reduced PoU estimates for China and thereby also the global figure. A number of ad-hoc revisions have been made to render food security crises - associated with inflation, economic recession, and the Covid-19 pandemic - legible. The indicator has thus been shaped by the political and economic structures within which FAO is situated, serving as an important tool to legitimize shifting ambitions and strategies of the post-World War II development agenda. At the same time, the lack of access to national household survey data from the countries with the highest measured undernutrition makes the PoU estimates fundamentally uncertain. At a technical level, this study highlights the need for greater transparency in the data and modelling basis for the PoU. The entanglement of technical and political factors illustrates the necessity of critical research on food insecurity quantification. More multifaceted approaches to measure food insecurity are needed.

Challenges to Global Health Emerging from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic deepened challenges and opened new fronts where old and unresolved problems met with new problems triggered by the pandemic itself. There are several issues, problems, and challenges related to the post-COVID world we are in. This paper discusses some of them from different perspectives and elaborates on the future challenges and their solutions, which need to be tackled. Apart from the pre-existing problems, we are now also facing new military conflicts, interrupted supply chains, even in medicines supplies, as well as the worsening of climate change, further complicated by the military conflicts and a potential new global economic crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic left the world with many uncertainties about the future as there seem to be few answers ready to tackle the combination of the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the pre-existing problems and challenges. Inequalities in terms of socio-economic differences and inequalities in health are driving disease burden, which will again be marked by the population aging and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Global collaboration and the joint search for solutions to global challenges have become inevitable. Research into behavioral determinants of health and health promotion are essential in understanding the sources of controversy regarding and resistance to proven public health interventions.

INVESTIGATING THE OPTIMAL EXIT TIMING AND LEVERAGE DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS

This paper investigates the effectiveness of the corporate credit policies as a means of preventing market exit in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. A real options framework incorporating dynamic programming is employed to investigate the relationship between exit decisions, leverage ratio and productivity uncertainty. Our paper presents a novel approach to the exit problem in comparison to other attempts in early 2020. Taking into account the dynamics of firms, we allow for a variety of factors, such as productivity uncertainty, debt readjustment, liquidity constraints, and leverage level, to explain the optimal time for a firm to exit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results indicate that the corporate credit programs have a significant positive impact and suggests that a greater leverage ratio increases the likelihood of survival and delays the decision to exit.

Social spending and chronic unemployment: evidence from OECD countries

PurposeSocial spending is at the forefront of the tools used to repair the damage caused by the global epidemic. However, one of the most critical questions in recent days is as follows: what are the effects of social expenditures in eliminating unemployment? The primary purpose of this article is to provide empirical evidence on the impact of social spending on chronic unemployment in the selected organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) countries.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the data of 30 selected OECD countries between 1991 and 2018 have been compiled. First, countries have been divided into four categories according to their spending intensity to determine the effects of social spending on the long-term unemployment rate. Then, the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and the error correction models (ECM) examine the variables' short- and long-term interactions.FindingsThe author found that the change in the share of social expenditures in GDP affects chronic unemployment similarly. This finding is consistent with the results of studies in the literature dealing with the relationship between public sector size and unemployment. However, the research findings are specifically about the effects of social expenditures on chronic unemployment. In this respect, the results reflect that expenditures with passive characteristics have an expansionary effect on long-term unemployment. In addition, the progressive effect of social expenditures on chronic unemployment is increasing in countries with high expenditure intensity. In countries with relatively low spending intensity, the impact of social spending is limited to the short run and is lower.Originality/valueMultiple studies have reported that public policies developed in line with the incentives of active employment and public or private sector investments reduce the unemployment rate by positively affecting the output/employment level. This study, unlike other studies, focuses on the effects of social expenditures on chronic unemployment. It also compares the effects of social spending on the long-term unemployment rate for countries with varying spending intensities. Therefore, this article tests the impact of social expenditures used against a concrete socioeconomic problem in the OECD sample. In this respect, the findings contribute to the literature by addressing the relationship between social spending and chronic unemployment.

The Impact of ESG Practices in Industry with a Focus on Carbon Emissions: Insights and Future Perspectives

In recent years, interest in economic, environmental and social sustainability has increased significantly. Companies are gradually adopting behaviors aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which represent a crucial aspect of the 2030 Agenda. In practice, they are currently incorporating organizational strategies that jointly consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), with the aim of generating value for all stakeholders. This paper aims to review, through a recognized seven-step procedure, the current literature on the impact that ESG practices have in industry, with a focus on the reduction of carbon emissions. The results are extremely useful for both researchers and entrepreneurs. The bibliometric analysis shows that interest in the ESG paradigm has grown considerably in the last three years. Furthermore, through the analysis of 13 key documents, it emerges that (i) the European community is pushing significantly towards the adoption of ESG practices through new regulations, (ii) the link between industrial operations and carbon emissions can no longer be neglected within the factory of the future, and (iii) significant efforts are still needed to standardize, in terms of variables and KPIs, the adoption of ESG-centric strategies.

Report of the FAO Vigo dialogue on social responsibility in the fisheries and aquaculture value chains - addressing current problems triggered by COVID-19

The 2020 FAO Vigo Dialogue focused on promoting human and labour rights to ensure better social practices along fisheries and aquaculture value chains, including emphasizing social problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The main issues and challenges that the sector is facing were discussed and identified. The Dialogue raised awareness of the situation faced by fish workers and the industry due to the pandemic, and allowed FAO to collaborate with relevant stakeholders by providing a clear outline of the significant challenges on social issues in fisheries and aquaculture value chains.

General fisheries commission for the Mediterranean. Report of the twenty-second session of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries, online, 22-25 June 2021

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) held its twenty-second session online, from 22 to 25 June 2021. The session was attended by delegates from 19 Mediterranean contracting parties, 11 observers, as well as representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Fisheries Division, the GFCM Secretariat and invited experts. The Committee reviewed the work carried out during the 2019-2021 intersession, including within the framework of the mid-term strategy (2017-2020) towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provided advice on status of priority stocks and ecosystems and on potential management measures addressing key fisheries and vulnerable species in the Mediterranean. In line with the subregional approach, the Committee formulated advice focusing on: (i) small pelagic and priority demersal fisheries in the Adriatic Sea;(ii) common dolphinfish and blackspot seabream fisheries in the western Mediterranean;(iii) small pelagic and bottom trawl fisheries exploiting demersal stocks, particularly European hake, in the central Mediterranean;(iv) deep-water red shrimp fisheries in the eastern-central Mediterranean, including their interactions with vulnerable marine ecosystems;and (v) round sardinella in the eastern Mediterranean. The Committee also agreed on the technical soundness of three FRA proposals for the Bari Canyon, the Ebro Delta margin and the Palmahim Disturbance, to be submitted to the Commission. At the regional level, the Committee provided advice on the following: (i) fishing technology and bycatch, including minimal technical specifications for bottom-trawl nets and the need for targeted pilot projects to investigate possible mitigation measures;(ii) data call for the database on sensitive benthic habitats and species and other effective area-based conservation measures for the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems and essential fish habitats;and (iii) advances in the adaptation strategy for climate change. Furthermore, the Committee discussed additional work in support of the GFCM, namely the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, dedicated research programmes as well as other activities to enhance fisheries management in the region. Finally, the Committee agreed upon its work plan for 2021-2023.

International Student Mobility in Crises: Globalization and Foucault's Rhetoric Question

(1999) understand globalization as "a process (or set of processes) which embodies a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions—assessed in terms of their extensity, intensity, velocity and impact—generating transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity, interaction, and the exercise of power” (p. 6). Discussion: "Neoliberal globalization” and student mobility in crises I personally use the term neoliberal globalization in that I critique "neoliberalism as an ideology, political philosophy, economic doctrine and policy model has been embraced by many Western countries and multilateral institutions and embedded in contemporary globalization” (Zheng & Kapoor, 2020, Neoliberal globalization and opening-up section, para. 1) and argue ISM across national borders has been significantly influenced by neoliberal globalization and neoliberalism-doctrined supranational organizations like the World Trade Organization and the World Bank, which promote the removal of barriers and the liberalization of international trade. [...]ISM can be regarded as a flow because it bears the specific social and educational meaning and has caused some global effects as an increasing number of international students cross borders for education (Zheng, 2010). [...]China's outbound ISM might be affected in that it is confined to many uncertain factors, such as the capacity of foreign higher education institutions, available financial support for Chinese students from the Chinese government, students' family, or foreign higher education institutions, and visa requirement of foreign countries.

Improving Sustainability of Learning Outcomes: An Empirical Study of Medical Students' Autonomous Learning

Achieving sustainable learning outcomes for medical students requires the assessment of their engagement in autonomous learning, and the development of sustainable autonomous learning skills. This study examined the relationship among autonomous learning, academic support, school satisfaction, and learning outcomes. It used structural equation modeling to analyze data from 725 medical students studying at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan. The findings showed that autonomous learning was positively related to academic support, school satisfaction, and learning outcomes. Furthermore, both school satisfaction and learning outcomes were positively correlated with academic support. Similarly, school satisfaction was positively correlated with learning outcomes. Academic support and school satisfaction mediated and serially mediated the relationship between autonomous learning and learning outcomes, respectively. Additionally, autonomous learning had positive direct and indirect effects on learning outcomes through the serial mediation of academic support and school satisfaction. The serial mediating effects of academic support and school satisfaction were significant. Thus, autonomous learning was considered to be an important aspect of sustainable learning outcomes;educational administrators could systematically encourage students' autonomous learning to increase their invested time and effort, and help students improve their learning outcomes.