Changes in synaptic efficacy are believed to form the cellular basis for memory. Protein synthesis in dendrites is needed to consolidate long-term synaptic changes. Many signals converge to regulate dendritic protein synthesis, including synaptic and cellular activity, and growth factors. The coordination of these multiple inputs is especially intriguing because the synthetic and control pathways themselves are among the synthesized proteins. We have modeled this system to study its molecular logic and to understand how runaway feedback is avoided. We show that growth factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gate activity-triggered protein synthesis via mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). We also show that bistability is unlikely to arise from the major protein synthesis pathways in our model, even though these include several positive feedback loops. We propose that these gating and stability properties may serve to suppress runaway activation of the pathway, while preserving the key role of responsiveness to multiple sources of input.

Sustainable development seeks human well-being without stretching the ecological limits. It is assumed that if sustainable development is aspired at global level, the goals prescribed should be within the planetary limits. A comparison of the scores of countries with respect to Sustainable Development Goal Index (SDGI) and scores on Ecological Footprints (EF) portrays quite a grim picture where countries with high EF have attained high scores on SDGI. A further investigation into the causal relationship between SDGI, Human Development Index (HDI) and EF reveals that SDGs are being achieved in an unsustainable manner. The environmental policy perspective of the total, direct and indirect effects of EF on SDGs estimated through path analysis unveils that the existing mode of achieving SDGs is at the cost of environmental degradation. SDGs have shown improvement through the improvement in the level of HDI, where human development is being attained in an environmentally unsustainable manner. The paper establishes that SDGs achieved are ecologically unjustifiable, and a reorientation of the existing patterns of human development well within the limits of ecological capacity of the earth is to be targeted.

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The contemporary economic growth models have directed the economies on an unsustainable trajectory where the present generation seems disenchanted with the heap of waste, debt, and insufficiency inherited from their forefathers. The present paper is an attempt to analyze the cause of consumerism and recommend an eco-spiritual policy perspective for ensuring sustainable development. The paper analyzes that the United Nations recently announced Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot lead the economies towards sustainable development. Ensuring sustainable development will require curbing consumerism consciously through exploring the unexplored spiritual dimension, which can inspire humanity to lead a life of simplicity, moderation, and minimum desires for sustainable and all-inclusive development. It has been stressed that aspiration of breakthrough result requires moving away from the external to the inward synthesis of the spiritual aspects, which believes in co-existence, acknowledging care, and concern for both human beings and the nature.The paper argues for an eco-spiritual perspective for furthering the goal of sustainability.