Are the East Asian Economies Decoupling? Empirical Evidence and Rhetorical Reasoning

In this article, the authors look at the decoupling debate with respect to East Asia from an economic and a political economy perspective. Looking at various methods, they find little evidence to support a secular decoupling hypothesis, that is, the proposition that there is a long-term trend towards a decoupling of the East Asian region. In this context, they present fresh evidence on GDP data up to the second quarter of 2009, incorporating some of the impact of the recent financial crisis. They find evidence in favour of a cyclical relationship: decoupling during economic upturns and re-coupling during downturns. They also look at the sources for the strong interest in the concept, drawing some parallels to the older concept of the flying geese pattern of development. Key factors are the activity of financial analysts and the interest of some policy circles in the region to support calls for further regional integration with putative empirical evidence. The debate on decoupling captures some interesting points about the peculiar political and economic exchange on the regional level. Nevertheless, the authors conclude that seemingly detached economic reasoning is often subject to over- and even misinterpretation and should be accompanied by more political economy-based reasoning on the discursive patterns of the debate

Fourier Series of the Periodic Bernoulli and Euler Functions

We give some properties of the periodic Bernoulli functions and study the Fourier series of the periodic Euler functions which are derived periodic functions from the Euler polynomials. And we derive the relations between the periodic Bernoulli functions and those from Euler polynomials by using the Fourier series

Adaptive Segmentation and Stitching on 8K UHD Video

Transmission technology is necessary to display contents stored on the Cloud server. When excessive compression is performed to the transmission of ultra-high resolution image, tangibility is reduced. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed an algorithm that divides the image into a number of sub-images. The sub-images were restored to the original one by stitching at the receiver. In the existing study, important objects were located at the center of the images, but an exception occurred when they are at the edge of the images. The saliency map was used to detect their main part so that the region of interest will not be divided. The images were divided depending on the position of saliency map. It is expected that users will be able to provide realistic signage by displaying ultra-high resolution images with a large screen

Large‐Scale, Ultrapliable, and Free‐Standing Nanomembranes

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97443/1/adma_201204619_sm_suppl.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97443/2/2167_ftp.pd

Adaptively evolved Escherichia coli for improved ability of formate utilization as a carbon source in sugar???free conditions

Background: Formate converted from CO2 reduction has great potential as a sustainable feedstock for biological production of biofuels and biochemicals. Nevertheless, utilization of formate for growth and chemical production by microbial species is limited due to its toxicity or the lack of a metabolic pathway. Here, we constructed a formate assimilation pathway in Escherichia coli and applied adaptive laboratory evolution to improve formate utilization as a carbon source in sugar-free conditions. Results: The genes related to the tetrahydrofolate and serine cycles from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 were overexpressed for formate assimilation, which was proved by the 13C-labeling experiments. The amino acids detected by GC/MS showed significant carbon labeling due to biomass production from formate. Then, 150 serial subcultures were performed to screen for evolved strains with improved ability to utilize formate. The genomes of evolved mutants were sequenced and the mutations were associated with formate dehydrogenation, folate metabolism, and biofilm formation. Last, 90 mg/L of ethanol production from formate was achieved using fed-batch cultivation without addition of sugars. Conclusion: This work demonstrates the effectiveness of the introduction of a formate assimilation pathway, combined with adaptive laboratory evolution, to achieve the utilization of formate as a carbon source. This study suggests that the constructed E. coli could serve as a strain to exploit formate and captured CO2

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Examining the effects of total knee arthroplasty enhanced with a brief mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy on pain and pain-related outcomes following surgery: a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is one of the most common surgical treatments for patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Although most patients benefit from this treatment, approximately 10-34% report poor postoperative outcomes, including persistent pain. Studies have shown that psychological distress (e.g., depression and anxiety) and pain catastrophizing (PC) contribute to worse pain-related outcomes in participants undergoing TKA. To address this, recent efforts have focused on optimizing TKA by incorporating psychological intervention into the perioperative period. Prior research indicates that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may improve postoperative pain and pain-related outcomes following TKA. More work is needed to understand the effects of these types of non-pharmacological interventions on various postsurgical outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The current study examined whether participants experienced changes in pain, physical functioning, psychosocial, and psychophysical outcomes after undergoing TKA enhanced with a brief perioperative mindfulness-based CBT (MBCBT). DESIGN: Uncontrolled quasi-experimental design with follow-up 3 months after surgery. METHODS: Participants (N = 22) with KOA undergoing TKA completed a baseline assessment 1-4 weeks prior to surgery, then attended a total of 4 sessions of MBCBT pre- and postoperatively. Participants were reassessed approximately 3 months after surgery. Self-reported pain and physical functioning were assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) scale and the Western Ontario and McMaster University of Osteoarthritis (WOMAC)-index scale including 3 subscales (i.e., pain, physical function, and stiffness). Psychological distress was measured using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) depression and anxiety scales, and PC was measured using the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Objective measures of physical performance were assessed using the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and stair climbing task (SCT). Lastly, pain sensitization was measured using a battery of quantitative sensory testing (QST) including pressure pain thresholds (PPThs) using mechanical stimuli, temporal summation of pain (TSP) using mechanical stimuli, and conditioned pain modulation (CPM) using a mechanical and temperature stimulus. Paired sample t-tests were used to assess changes in outcome measures from baseline to 3-month post-surgery. RESULTS: Analyses showed that participants who received TKA enhanced with perioperative MBCBT (TKA+MBCBT) reported a significant reduction in BPI pain severity scores, BPI pain interference scores, total WOMAC scores, WOMAC pain scores, WOMAC function scores, and PCS scores at 3 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: The results from our study suggest that TKA enhanced with a brief psychosocial intervention targeting postoperative pain prevention may improve pain, self-reported functioning, and pain catastrophizing following surgery. Nevertheless, without the control comparison group, it is impossible to determine how much of these improvements can be attributed to the MBCBT intervention alone. It is possible that participants may have achieved similar gains without such intervention. Thus, larger studies with an appropriate comparator arm are needed to discern the isolated effects of MBCBT in improving postoperative outcomes following surgery.2025-02-22T00:00:00

Recombinant Expression and Characterization of CRISP3 in Dragline Spider Silk

Spider silk has been of a high interest to scientists due to its unique and diverse mechanical properties. The combination of high resilience, extensibility, and tensile strength makes spider silk an ideal material for biomedical, military, and industrial applications. Black widow spiders have seven glands that each produce a unique type of silk dedicated to different biological purposes. Of the seven silk types, our studies focused on dragline silk, a silk type produced by the major ampullate gland. Spiders use dragline silk primarily for locomotion and prey capture. Previously, only two spidroins, MaSp1 and MaSp2, have been identified as major components of dragline silk. However, recent proteomic analysis using nanoLC-MS/MS analysis with an Orbitrap Fusion™ Tribrid™ mass spectrometer has identified at least seven proteins, including members of the Cysteine-Rich Protein Family (CRP1, CRP2, and CRP4), CRISP3, fasciclin, and 2 uncharacterized proteins. In order to characterize the structure of CRISP3, we amplified the CRISP3 cDNA from a DNA library prepared from silk-producing glands using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), followed by insertion of the cDNA into a prokaryotic expression vector. Following uptake of the plasmid by bacteria, cells were added in LB supplemented with ampicillin and induced to express the recombinant protein. His-tagged CRISP3 protein was purified using nickel-resin affinity chromatography and its identity confirmed by performing an in-solution tryptic digestion, followed by MS/MS analysis. In addition to performing in-solution tryptic digestions on elution fractions from the purification, we separated proteins in the elution fraction using SDS-PAGE analysis, followed by in-gel tryptic digestion and mass spectrometry. A better understanding of the molecular properties of CRISP3 will help advance the development of synthetic silk fibers that more closely resemble natural silk

Recombinant Expression and Characterization of CRISP3 in Dragline Spider Silk

Spider silk has been of a high interest to scientists due to its unique and diverse mechanical properties. The combination of high resilience, extensibility, and tensile strength makes spider silk an ideal material for biomedical, military, and industrial applications. Black widow spiders have seven glands that each produce a unique type of silk dedicated to different biological purposes. Of the seven silk types, our studies focused on dragline silk, a silk type produced by the major ampullate gland. Spiders use dragline silk primarily for locomotion and prey capture. Previously, only two spidroins, MaSp1 and MaSp2, have been identified as major components of dragline silk. However, recent proteomic analysis using nanoLC-MS/MS analysis with an Orbitrap Fusion™ Tribrid™ mass spectrometer has identified at least seven proteins, including members of the Cysteine-Rich Protein Family (CRP1, CRP2, and CRP4), CRISP3, fasciclin, and 2 uncharacterized proteins. In order to characterize the structure of CRISP3, we amplified the CRISP3 cDNA from a DNA library prepared from silk-producing glands using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), followed by insertion of the cDNA into a prokaryotic expression vector. Following uptake of the plasmid by bacteria, cells were added in LB supplemented with ampicillin and induced to express the recombinant protein. His-tagged CRISP3 protein was purified using nickel-resin affinity chromatography and its identity confirmed by performing an in-solution tryptic digestion, followed by MS/MS analysis. In addition to performing in-solution tryptic digestions on elution fractions from the purification, we separated proteins in the elution fraction using SDS-PAGE analysis, followed by in-gel tryptic digestion and mass spectrometry. A better understanding of the molecular properties of CRISP3 will help advance the development of synthetic silk fibers that more closely resemble natural silk

Knob Socket Analysis of Beta Amyloid Proteins

Alzheimer\u27s disease is an irreversible brain disorder that gradually destroys memory, critical thinking skills, and the ability to carry out simple tasks. Currently, this disease affects 5.2 million Americans. Alzheimer\u27s has been characterized by the formation of beta-amyloid peptide plaques between nerve cells in the brain. Analysis of the three-dimensional tertiary protein structure is a challenge, but could result in better development of therapeutic and diagnostic tests. The knobsocket model simplifies the complexity of threedimensional packing of protein residues into an easily interpretable two-dimensional map. The resulting topology map of tertiary structure clearly indicates how the amino acid residues interact with each other as a group and individually. The local set of amino acid residues form a three member socket, while a non-local residue is defined as the knob that packs into the socket. The Alzheimer disease state has been shown to be caused by prion amyloids, and structural information about these amyloids have been solved for the protein crystals 2LMN and 2LMP. Using the knob-socket model, packing topology maps were constructed for these amyloid states. These topology maps identify potential areas on the exposed amyloid surface that could interaction with a diagnostic peptide to identify early stages of the disease. Also, the exposed edges offer areas of interaction to inhibit further extension of the prion state and therefore a potential therapeutic by preventing amyloid plaque growth. The next steps are to synthesize these peptides that target the amyloid structure and test their binding ability and inhibition of amyloid plaque accumulation