Does political conflict affect bilateral trade or vice versa? Evidence from Sino-U.S. relations

This paper investigates the dynamic causal relationship between Sino-U.S. political conflict and bilateral trade using a time-varying (bootstrap) Granger full-sample causality test and sub-sample rolling window estimation. The result indicates that Sino-U.S. political conflict and bilateral trade may interact in various ways. Bilateral trade has both positive and negative effects on political conflict in several sub-phases, and in turn, political conflict has the same impacts on bilateral trade. In general, the relationship between Sino-U.S. political conflict and bilateral trade is not always consistent with the model of Polachek, which states bilateral trade has significantly reduced political conflict. In the face of a severe economic situation, China and the U.S. government should strengthen trade cooperation and seek common ground of economic interests in order to expand the improvement of political relations

Paraphrasing in Academic Writing: a Case Study of Vietnamese Learners of English

Paraphrasing is an important skill in academic writing – it is a cognitive skill that requires higher order thinking and high proficiency inss both reading and writing. This research explored the paraphrasing ability of EFL learners at a tertiary institution in Vietnam and examined the challenges they face when paraphrasing. Data were collected from ten second-year English major students through (i) paraphrasing a given text and (ii) individual interviews. The findings revealed that participants frequently paraphrased using synonyms, but rarely changed syntactic structures. The interviews showed that the learners encountered several language-related difficulties when attempting to paraphrase, such as inadequate understanding of the source text and the lack of vocabulary to use when paraphrasing. This paper provides insights into EFL learners’ paraphrasing abilities and suggests some implications as to what EFL teachers should focus on to help less experienced student writers improve their paraphrasing skills

_In vivo_ photoacoustic molecular imaging with simultaneous multiple selective targeting using antibody-conjugated gold nanorods

The use of gold nanorods for photoacoustic molecular imaging in vivo with simultaneous multiple selective targeting is reported. The extravasation of multiple molecular probes is demonstrated, and used to probe molecular information of cancer cells. This technique allows molecular profiles representing tumor characteristics to be obtained and a heterogeneous population of cancer cells in a lesion to be determined. The results also show that the image contrast can be enhanced by using a mixture of different molecular probes. In this study, HER2, EGFR, and CXCR4 were chosen as the primary target molecules for examining two types of cancer cells, OECM1 and Cal27. OECM1 cells overexpressed HER2 but exhibited a low expression of EGFR, while Cal27 cells showed the opposite expression profile. Single and double targeting resulted in signal enhancements of up to 3 dB and up to 5 dB, respectively, and hence has potential in improving cancer diagnoses

Should gold be stored in chaotic eras?

This article explores the necessity to store gold in chaotic eras from the perspective of geopolitical risk (G.P.R.). We examine the casual relationship between G.P.R. and gold price (G.P.) by applying the full- and sub-sample rolling-window bootstrap causality test. The positive effect from G.P.R. to G.P. reveals that gold should be stored in chaotic eras, due to its rising price during high risks of geopolitics. However, the negative effect does not confirm this view, G.P. may decrease during certain high G.P.R. periods, which are not necessary to store gold. G.P. may also increase during periods of low G.P.R., in order to hedge risks of economic crises, rather than geopolitical events. These results are inconsistent with the capital asset pricing model, which highlights a positive effect from G.P.R. to G.P. In turn, the positive influence of G.P. on G.P.R. points out that the gold market can be an effective predictor of the risks of geopolitics. In the context of an unstable pattern of global politics, investors and governments can benefit from the gold value in the chaotic eras to avoid losses and optimize investment. In turn, they can accurately predict G.P.R. based on G.P., in order to prevent G.P.R.s

miRExpress: Analyzing high-throughput sequencing data for profiling microRNA expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs of 19 to 25 nt, play important roles in gene regulation in both animals and plants. In the last few years, the oligonucleotide microarray is one high-throughput and robust method for detecting miRNA expression. However, the approach is restricted to detecting the expression of known miRNAs. Second-generation sequencing is an inexpensive and high-throughput sequencing method. This new method is a promising tool with high sensitivity and specificity and can be used to measure the abundance of small-RNA sequences in a sample. Hence, the expression profiling of miRNAs can involve use of sequencing rather than an oligonucleotide array. Additionally, this method can be adopted to discover novel miRNAs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This work presents a systematic approach, miRExpress, for extracting miRNA expression profiles from sequencing reads obtained by second-generation sequencing technology. A stand-alone software package is implemented for generating miRNA expression profiles from high-throughput sequencing of RNA without the need for sequenced genomes. The software is also a database-supported, efficient and flexible tool for investigating miRNA regulation. Moreover, we demonstrate the utility of miRExpress in extracting miRNA expression profiles from two Illumina data sets constructed for the human and a plant species.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We develop miRExpress, which is a database-supported, efficient and flexible tool for detecting miRNA expression profile. The analysis of two Illumina data sets constructed from human and plant demonstrate the effectiveness of miRExpress to obtain miRNA expression profiles and show the usability in finding novel miRNAs.</p

Effects of thickness stretching in functionally graded plates and shells

1The present work evaluates the effect of thickness stretching in plate/shell structures made by materials which are functionally graded (FGM) in the thickness directions. That is done by removing or retaining the transverse normal strain in the kinematics assumptions of various refined plate/shell theories. Variable plate/shell models are implemented according to Carrera&#039;s Unified Formulation. Plate/shell theories with constant transverse displacement are compared with the corresponding linear to fourth order of expansion in the thickness direction ones. Single-layered and multilayered FGM structures have been analyzed. A large numerical investigation, encompassing various plate/shell geometries as well as various grading rates for FGMs, has been conducted. It is mainly concluded that a refinements of classical theories that include additional in-plane variables could results meaningless unless transverse normal strain effects are taken into account

Single-nucleotide polymorphism-based genetic risk score and patient age at prostate cancer diagnosis

Importance: Few studies have evaluated the association between a single-nucleotide polymorphism-based genetic risk score (GRS) and patient age at prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis. Objectives: To test the association between a GRS and patient age at PCa diagnosis and to compare the performance of a GRS with that of family history (FH) in PCa risk stratification. Design, Setting, and Participants: A cohort study of 3225 white men was conducted as a secondary analysis of the Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) chemoprevention trial, a 4-year, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study conducted from March 2003 to April 2009 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of dutasteride in reducing PCa events. Participants were confirmed to be cancer free by prostate biopsy (6-12 cores) within 6 months prior to the study and underwent 10 core biopsies every 2 years per protocol. The dates for performing data analysis were from July 2016 to October 2019. Interventions: A well-established, population-standardized GRS was calculated for each participant based on 110 known PCa risk-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms, which is a relative risk compared with the general population. Men were classified into 3 GRS risk groups based on predetermined cutoff values: low (\u3c0.50), average (0.50-1.49), and high (≥1.50). Main Outcomes and Measures: Prostate cancer diagnosis-free survival among men of different risk groups. Results: Among 3225 men (median age, 63 years [interquartile range, 58-67 years]) in the study, 683 (21%) were classified as low risk, 1937 (60%) as average risk, and 605 (19%) as high risk based on GRS alone. In comparison, 2789 (86%) were classified as low or average risk and 436 (14%) as high risk based on FH alone. Men in higher GRS risk groups had a PCa diagnosis-free survival rate that was worse than that of those in the lower GRS risk group (χ2 = 53.3; P \u3c .001 for trend) and in participants with a negative FH of PCa (χ2 = 45.5; P \u3c .001 for trend). Combining GRS and FH further stratified overall genetic risk, indicating that 957 men (30%) were at high genetic risk (either high GRS or positive FH), 1667 men (52%) were at average genetic risk (average GRS and negative FH), and 601 men (19%) were at low genetic risk (low GRS and negative FH). The median PCa diagnosis-free survival was 74 years (95% CI, 73-75 years) for men at high genetic risk, 77 years (95% CI, 75 to \u3e80 years) for men at average genetic risk, and more than 80 years (95% CI, \u3e80 to \u3e80 years) for men at low genetic risk. In contrast, the median PCa diagnosis-free survival was 73 years (95% CI, 71-76 years) for men with a positive FH and 77 years (95% CI, 76-79 years) for men with a negative FH. Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that a GRS is significantly associated with patient age at PCa diagnosis. Combining FH and GRS may better stratify inherited risk than FH alone for developing personalized PCa screening strategies

Do house prices squeeze marriages in China?

This study reviews the threshold effect of house prices (HPs) on marriage (MR) in China by utilizing a panel threshold regression. The findings indicate that HPs have a positive impact on MR when the price is below the threshold value. Homeownership is an extremely important factor in MR in China, and MR without housing is considered incomplete. However, HPs have a negative effect on MR when the price is higher than the threshold value. Unemployment and female education have a negative effect on MR, while GDP per capita has a positive effect. These results are supported by the duration model, which shows that as HPs increase, the rate of MR decreases. The study makes a contribution on the asymmetric impact of high HPs on MR in China in the two regimes. The paper offers insight into the economic outlook on HPs and MR driven by societal and institutional changes, such as privatization and state ownership of enterprises, that have changed marriage behavior. Increasing HPs slow MR and may have a more serious impact on China than on other countries. The government should balance housing supply and demand by enhancing antimonopoly supervision in the private market. The government should establish policy measures to meet housing demand and create incentives to wed, which can relieve competition in marriage markets. Diversified investment, in turn, can control HPs

Feasible pickup from intact ossicular chain with floating piezoelectric microphone

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>Many microphones have been developed to meet with the implantable requirement of totally implantable cochlear implant (TICI). However, a biocompatible one without destroying the intactness of the ossicular chain still remains under investigation. Such an implantable floating piezoelectric microphone (FPM) has been manufactured and shows an efficient electroacoustic performance in vitro test at our lab. We examined whether it pick up sensitively from the intact ossicular chain and postulated whether it be an optimal implantable one.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Animal controlled experiment: five adult cats (eight ears) were sacrificed as the model to test the electroacoustic performance of the FPM. Three groups were studied: (1) the experiment group (on malleus): the FPM glued onto the handle of the malleus of the intact ossicular chains; (2) negative control group (in vivo): the FPM only hung into the tympanic cavity; (3) positive control group (Hy-M30): a HiFi commercial microphone placed close to the site of the experiment ear. The testing speaker played pure tones orderly ranged from 0.25 to 8.0 kHz. The FPM inside the ear and the HiFi microphone simultaneously picked up acoustic vibration which recorded as .wav files to analyze.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The FPM transformed acoustic vibration sensitively and flatly as did the in vitro test across the frequencies above 2.0 kHz, whereas inefficiently below 1.0 kHz for its overloading mass. Although the HiFi microphone presented more efficiently than the FPM did, there was no significant difference at 3.0 kHz and 8.0 kHz.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It is feasible to develop such an implantable FPM for future TICIs and TIHAs system on condition that the improvement of Micro Electromechanical System and piezoelectric ceramic material technology would be applied to reduce its weight and minimize its size.</p