44 research outputs found
An empirical analysis of FDI and institutional quality on environmental quality and economic growth, evidence from the panel of asian oil-producing and non-oil-producing economies
This study applies the augmented mean group (AMG) estimation technique to investigate whether institutional quality and FDI contribute to economic growth and environmental quality in emerging Asian oil-producing and non-oil-producing countries during the period 1975–2020. The estimation of AMG strategy indicates that for every 1% increase in FDI, institutional quality and carbon emissions can significantly boost economic growth by 0.882%, 0.659%, and 0.605%, respectively. Likewise, trade liberalization, transport infrastructure and urbanization can significantly boost economic growth. Long-term variable elasticity coefficients based on carbon emissions model suggest that FDI can stimulate carbon emissions, thereby validating the Pollution Heaven Hypothesis (PHH) in selected panel of countries. Institutional quality has a significant negative impact on carbon emissions, while GDP, trade openness, urbanization, and investment in transport infrastructure contribute significantly to carbon dioxide emissions. Country wise estimates of the AMG strategy show that the institutional quality of oil-producing countries has no significant impact on economic growth, but does boost economic growth in non-oil producing countries. The quality of institutions in both non-oil and oil-producing countries can significantly reduce carbon emissions. FDI stimulates economic growth in oil-producing countries compared to non-oil-producing countries. However, FDI contributes significantly to both oil and non-oil-producing CO2 emissions, thus validating PHH. Controlling factors such as economic growth increase significantly to CO2 emissions in oil-producing countries, while, CO2 emissions from petro-states stimulate more to economic growth than non-petroleum states. The impact of trade liberalization on economic growth is significantly positive in both oil and non-oil-producing countries, but the contribution of non-oil-producing economies is higher than that of oil-producing countries. Compared with non-oil producing countries, trade liberalization in oil-producing countries contributes more to carbon emissions. Investment in transportation infrastructure significantly boosted economic growth in both oil and non-oil producing countries, but oil producing countries contributed more than non-oil producing countries. A range of policy proposals were discussed to achieve economic and environmental sustainability
Correlation driven near-flat band Stoner excitations in a Kagome magnet
Among condensed matter systems, Mott insulators exhibit diverse properties
that emerge from electronic correlations. In itinerant metals, correlations are
usually weak, but can also be enhanced via geometrical confinement of
electrons, that manifest as `flat' dispersionless electronic bands. In the fast
developing field of topological materials, which includes Dirac and Weyl
semimetals, flat bands are one of the important components that can result in
unusual magnetic and transport behaviour. To date, characterisation of flat
bands and their magnetism is scarce, hindering the design of novel materials.
Here, we investigate the ferromagnetic Kagom\'{e} semimetal CoSnS
using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. Remarkably, nearly non-dispersive
Stoner spin excitation peaks are observed, sharply contrasting with the
featureless Stoner continuum expected in conventional ferromagnetic metals. Our
band structure and dynamic spin susceptibility calculations, and thermal
evolution of the excitations, confirm the nearly non-dispersive Stoner
excitations as unique signatures of correlations and spin-polarized electronic
flat bands in CoSnS. These observations serve as a cornerstone for
further exploration of band-induced symmetry-breaking orders in topological
materials.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, and Supplementary Informatio
A dynamic relationship between renewable energy consumption, non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth and CO2 emissions: Evidence from Asian emerging economies
This study aims to explore the relationship between renewable energy consumption, non-renewable energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth in China, India, Bangladesh, Japan, South Korea and Singapore using panel Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimation techniques over the period 1975–2020. The results of the analysis show that renewable energy consumption, non-renewable energy consumption, employed labor force, and capital formation contribute significantly to long-run economic growth. The study also found that non-renewable energy consumption significantly increased long-term carbon emissions, while renewable energy consumption significantly reduced long-term carbon emissions. GDP and GDP3 have a significant positive impact on environmental degradation, while GDP2 has a significant negative impact on environmental degradation, thereby validating the N-type EKC hypothesis in selected emerging economies. The countrywise AMG strategy records no EKC in India and Bangladesh, an inverted U-shaped EKC in China and Singapore, and an N-shaped EKC in Japan and South Korea. Empirical evidence from the Dumitrescue-Hurlin (2012) panel causality test shows that there is a two-way causality between renewable energy consumption and economic growth, supporting the feedback hypothesis. Strategically, empirical evidence suggests that higher renewable energy is a viable strategy for addressing energy security and reducing carbon emissions to protect the environment and promote future economic growth in selected Asian countries
Trans-ancestry genome-wide association study identifies 12 genetic loci influencing blood pressure and implicates a role for DNA methylation
10.1038/ng.3405Nature Genetics47111282-1293GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes
Impact of measurement error on testing genetic association with quantitative traits
10.1371/journal.pone.0087044PLoS ONE91-POLN
Childhood gene-environment interactions and age-dependent effects of genetic variants associated with refractive error and myopia : The CREAM Consortium
Myopia, currently at epidemic levels in East Asia, is a leading cause of untreatable visual impairment. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in adults have identified 39 loci associated with refractive error and myopia. Here, the age-of-onset of association between genetic variants at these 39 loci and refractive error was investigated in 5200 children assessed longitudinally across ages 7-15 years, along with gene-environment interactions involving the major environmental risk-factors, nearwork and time outdoors. Specific variants could be categorized as showing evidence of: (a) early-onset effects remaining stable through childhood, (b) early-onset effects that progressed further with increasing age, or (c) onset later in childhood (N = 10, 5 and 11 variants, respectively). A genetic risk score (GRS) for all 39 variants explained 0.6% (P = 6.6E-08) and 2.3% (P = 6.9E-21) of the variance in refractive error at ages 7 and 15, respectively, supporting increased effects from these genetic variants at older ages. Replication in multi-ancestry samples (combined N = 5599) yielded evidence of childhood onset for 6 of 12 variants present in both Asians and Europeans. There was no indication that variant or GRS effects altered depending on time outdoors, however 5 variants showed nominal evidence of interactions with nearwork (top variant, rs7829127 in ZMAT4; P = 6.3E-04).Peer reviewe
Common variants in SOX-2 and congenital cataract genes contribute to age-related nuclear cataract
Nuclear cataract is the most common type of age-related cataract and a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Age-related nuclear cataract is heritable (h2 = 0.48), but little is known about specific genetic factors underlying this condition. Here we report findings from the largest to date multi-ethnic meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (discovery cohort N = 14,151 and replication N = 5299) of the International Cataract Genetics Consortium. We confirmed the known genetic association of CRYAA (rs7278468, P = 2.8 × 10−16) with nuclear cataract and identified five new loci associated with this disease: SOX2-OT (rs9842371, P = 1.7 × 1
New insights into the genetics of primary open-angle glaucoma based on meta-analyses of intraocular pressure and optic disc characteristics
Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), the most common optic neuropathy, is a highly heritable disease (h2 = 0.42 ± 0.09). Siblings of POAG cases have a ten-fold increase risk of developing the disease. Intraocular pressure (IOP) and optic nerve head characteristics are used clinically to predict POAG risk. We conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of IOP and optic disc parameters and validated our findings in multiple sets of POAG cases and controls. Using imputation to the 1000 genomes (1000G) reference set, we identified 9 new genomic regions associated with vertical cup disc ratio (VCDR) and 1 new region associated with IOP. Additionally, we found 5 novel loci for optic nerve cup area and 6 for disc area. Previously it was assumed that genetic variation influenced POAG either through IOP or via changes to the optic nerve head; here we present evidence that some genomic regions affect both IOP and the disc parameters. We characterized the effect of the novel loci through pathway analysis and found that pathways involved are not entirely distinct as assumed. Further, we identified a novel association between CDKN1A and POAG. Using a zebrafish model we show that six6b (associated with POAG and optic nerve head variation) alters the expression of cdkn1a. In summary, we have identified several novel genes influencing the major clinical risk predictors of POAG and showed that genetic variation in CDKN1A is important in POAG ris
Research Progress on Metal–Organic Framework-Based Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors
Supercapacitors play an important role in power systems since they are a key part of electrochemical energy storage devices. To assemble high-performance supercapacitors, it is crucial to discover and innovate high-capacitive electrode materials. Recently, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and their derivatives have received wide concerns as electrode materials for supercapacitors, not only because of their high pore volume and large surface area for ions and electrons insertion and transportation, but also due to the intrinsic metal active sites that possibly offer extra faradaic pseudocapacitance. Additionally, the abundant species of MOFs with various morphologies also feature advantages in enriching the structural diversity of electrodes. In this paper, we first report the latest research progress and demonstrate the feasibility of pure MOFs for directly constructing supercapacitor electrodes. Furthermore, different MOF derivatives, including porous carbons, transition metal oxides, metal hydroxides and MOF composites for supercapacitors, are summarized, and their electrochemical performances with corresponding energy storage mechanisms are presented in detail. Finally, the perspectives for MOF-based materials applied in supercapacitors are discussed, aiming to provide a guideline for further research based on these promising materials