Globalization and Diversification of Interior Decoration Styles and Their Impact on Pakistani Handicrafts

With the gradual advancement of globalization, cultural values and traditional decorative practices as well as people’s lifestyles have changed through digital awareness. This has seriously affected the interior decoration industry and brought challenges to the local handicraft industry. Pakistan’s traditional handicraft is famous in the world, but the flow of imported machine-made products in Pakistan has led to a decline of Pakistan’s handicraft industry. This research investigated which factors are involved in home decoration and to see if these factors are advantageous for the handicraft industry or not. The use of handicraft decoration objects varies among people when they design their houses. Thus, study conducted a survey, which found several factors that Pakistani people emphasize in relation to home decoration. Currently, these factors do not benefit the handicraft industry as people pursue a modern lifestyle and they consider handicraft objects without innovation and design outdated. Interior decoration is seen as a major aspect of traditional Pakistani life and culture, with distinct cultural characteristics. Inspired by the latest way of thinking, an interior design first exists as a concept and is then realized through careful planning. It is meant to evoke a specific mood through the strategic use of color, space, and style. In Pakistan, home accessories are generally and strongly influenced by the current fashion in the end market, with many changes brought about by consumers’ purchasing patterns, designers’ and decorators’ styles, and economic conditions. Keeping up with constantly changing trends is the main challenge faced by the traditional handicraft industry sector. In many cases, craftspeople are disconnected from the end market, which is a challenge for them to be able to profit from their work

Globalization and Diversification of Interior Decoration Styles and Their Impact on Pakistani Handicrafts

With the gradual advancement of globalization, cultural values and traditional decorative practices as well as people’s lifestyles have changed through digital awareness. This has seriously affected the interior decoration industry and brought challenges to the local handicraft industry. Pakistan’s traditional handicraft is famous in the world, but the flow of imported machine-made products in Pakistan has led to a decline of Pakistan’s handicraft industry. This research investigated which factors are involved in home decoration and to see if these factors are advantageous for the handicraft industry or not. The use of handicraft decoration objects varies among people when they design their houses. Thus, study conducted a survey, which found several factors that Pakistani people emphasize in relation to home decoration. Currently, these factors do not benefit the handicraft industry as people pursue a modern lifestyle and they consider handicraft objects without innovation and design outdated. Interior decoration is seen as a major aspect of traditional Pakistani life and culture, with distinct cultural characteristics. Inspired by the latest way of thinking, an interior design first exists as a concept and is then realized through careful planning. It is meant to evoke a specific mood through the strategic use of color, space, and style. In Pakistan, home accessories are generally and strongly influenced by the current fashion in the end market, with many changes brought about by consumers’ purchasing patterns, designers’ and decorators’ styles, and economic conditions. Keeping up with constantly changing trends is the main challenge faced by the traditional handicraft industry sector. In many cases, craftspeople are disconnected from the end market, which is a challenge for them to be able to profit from their work

Synergistic effect of CD47 blockade in combination with cordycepin treatment against cancer

Cordycepin is widely considered a direct tumor-suppressive agent. However, few studies have investigated as the effect of cordycepin therapy on the tumor microenvironment (TME). In our present study, we demonstrated that cordycepin could weaken the function of M1-like macrophages in the TME and also contribute to macrophage polarization toward the M2 phenotype. Herein, we established a combined therapeutic strategy combining cordycepin and an anti-CD47 antibody. By using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), we showed that the combination treatment could significantly enhance the effect of cordycepin, which would reactivate macrophages and reverse macrophage polarization. In addition, the combination treatment could regulate the proportion of CD8+ T cells to prolong the progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with digestive tract malignancies. Finally, flow cytometry validated the changes in the proportions of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Collectively, our findings suggested that the combination treatment of cordycepin and the anti-CD47 antibody could significantly enhance tumor suppression, increase the proportion of M1 macrophages, and decrease the proportion of M2 macrophages. In addition, the PFS in patients with digestive tract malignancies would be prolonged by regulating CD8+ T cells

5G embraces satellites for 6G ubiquitous IoT : basic models for integrated satellite terrestrial networks

Terrestrial communication networks mainly focus on users in urban areas but have poor coverage performance in harsh environments, such as mountains, deserts, and oceans. Satellites can be exploited to extend the coverage of terrestrial fifth-generation (5G) networks. However, satellites are restricted by their high latency and relatively low data rate. Consequently, the integration of terrestrial and satellite components has been widely studied, to take advantage of both sides and enable the seamless broadband coverage. Due to the significant differences between satellite communications (SatComs) and terrestrial communications (TerComs) in terms of channel fading, transmission delay, mobility, and coverage performance, the establishment of an efficient hybrid satellite-terrestrial network (HSTN) still faces many challenges. In general, it is difficult to decompose a HSTN into a sum of separate satellite and terrestrial links due to the complicated coupling relationships therein. To uncover the complete picture of HSTNs, we regard the HSTN as a combination of basic cooperative models that contain the main traits of satellite-terrestrial integration but are much simpler and thus more tractable than the large-scale heterogeneous HSTNs. In particular, we present three basic cooperative models, i.e., model X, model L, and model V, and provide a survey of the state-of-the-art technologies for each of them. We discuss future research directions towards establishing a cell-free, hierarchical, decoupled HSTN. We also outline open issues to envision an agile, smart, and secure HSTN for the sixth-generation (6G) ubiquitous Internet of Things (IoT)

Changes in Impaired Fasting Glucose and Borderline High Low-Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol Status Alter the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease:A 9-Year Prospective Cohort Study

BackgroundWe aimed to characterize the relationships of the changes in impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and borderline high low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) status with cardiovascular disease (CVD). MethodsA total of 36,537 participants who did not have previous CVD, diabetes mellitus, or high LDL-C (>= 4.1 mmol/L), nor were taking lipid-lowering drugs were recruited from the Kailuan study. The participants were allocated to six groups according to their baseline and follow-up fasting blood glucose (FBG) and LDL-C concentrations: (1) both were normal; (2) both normal at baseline, one abnormality subsequently; (3) both normal at baseline, both abnormal subsequently; (4) at least one abnormality that became normal; (5) at least one abnormality at baseline, a single abnormality subsequently; and (6) at least one abnormality, two abnormalities subsequently. The outcomes were CVD and subtypes of CVD (myocardial infarction and stroke). Multiple Cox regression models were used to calculate adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and confidence interval (95% CI). ResultsDuring a median follow-up period of 9.00 years, 1,753 participants experienced a CVD event. After adjustment for covariates, participants with IFG in combination with a borderline high LDL-C status at baseline and follow-up had higher risks of CVD (HR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.04-2.23 and HR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.13-1.70, respectively) compared with those with normal fasting blood glucose and LDL-C. Compared with participants that remained normal, those who changed from normality to having two abnormalities were at a higher risk of CVD (HR: 1.26; 95% CI: 0.98-1.61), as were those who changed from at least one abnormality to two abnormalities (HR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.02-2.15). ConclusionChanges in IFG and borderline high LDL-C status alter the risk of CVD and its subtype, implying that it is important to focus on such individuals for the prevention and control of CVD