The impact of foreign direct investment on the productivity of China’s automotive industry

• This study contributes to the existing literature by empirically investigating the effect of FDI inflows on the aggregate labour productivity of China's automotive industry. • A production function model is developed using a panel data set at sub-sector level. Two statistical models: pooled ordinary least squares model (POLS) and fixed effects model (FES) were used to estimate the influence of foreign direct investment on aggregate labour productivity in the industry

Quality of Patenting in the UK Scientific Instruments Industry: Database Construction

This paper explains how a database of patent quality in the UK scientific instruments industry was constructed for the period 1981-90. A new and detailed decomposition of total patenting activity for the decade is reported upon for over ninety firms in the industry for this decade. This involves constructing patent families by exhaustively tracing all patent activity for the same invention over all patent regimes. The database is analysed in four ways: (i) differences between patenting and non-patenting firms; (ii) concentration and demand fragmentation; (iii) patenting and financial performance in 1986-87; (iv) optimal patenting firm size.patent quality, database, scientific instruments

Icenticaftor, a CFTR Potentiator, in COPD:A Multicenter, Parallel-Group, Double-Blind Clinical Trial

CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) dysfunction is associated with mucus accumulation and worsening chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms. The aim of this phase IIb dose-finding study was to compare a CFTR potentiator, icenticaftor (QBW251), with placebo in patients with COPD and chronic bronchitis. Patients with COPD on triple therapy for at least three months were randomized to six treatment arms (icenticaftor 450, 300, 150, 75, or 25?mg or placebo twice daily [b.i.d.]) in a 24-week, multicenter, parallel-group, double-blind study. The primary endpoint was change from baseline in trough FEV after 12?weeks. Secondary endpoints included change from baseline in trough FEV and Evaluating Respiratory Symptoms in COPD (E-RS) total and cough and sputum scores after 24?weeks. Multiple comparison procedure-modeling was conducted to characterize dose-response relationship. Rescue medication use, exacerbations, and change in serum fibrinogen concentration after 24?weeks were assessed in exploratory and analyses, respectively. Nine hundred seventy-four patients were randomized. After 12?weeks of icenticaftor treatment, no dose-response relationship for change from baseline in trough FEV was observed; however, it was observed for E-RS cough and sputum score. A dose-response relationship was observed after 24?weeks for trough FEV , E-RS cough and sputum and total scores, rescue medication use, and fibrinogen. A dose of 300?mg b.i.d. was consistently the most effective. Improvements for 300?mg b.i.d. versus placebo were also seen in pairwise comparisons of these endpoints. All treatments were well tolerated. The primary endpoint was negative, as icenticaftor did not improve trough FEV over 12?weeks. Although the findings must be interpreted with caution, icenticaftor improved trough FEV ; reduced cough, sputum, and rescue medication use; and lowered fibrinogen concentrations at 24?weeks. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04072887)

Microscale Physiological Events on the Human Cortical Surface

Despite ongoing advances in our understanding of local single-cellular and network-level activity of neuronal populations in the human brain, extraordinarily little is known about their "intermediate" microscale local circuit dynamics. Here, we utilized ultra-high-density microelectrode arrays and a rare opportunity to perform intracranial recordings across multiple cortical areas in human participants to discover three distinct classes of cortical activity that are not locked to ongoing natural brain rhythmic activity. The first included fast waveforms similar to extracellular single-unit activity. The other two types were discrete events with slower waveform dynamics and were found preferentially in upper cortical layers. These second and third types were also observed in rodents, nonhuman primates, and semi-chronic recordings from humans via laminar and Utah array microelectrodes. The rates of all three events were selectively modulated by auditory and electrical stimuli, pharmacological manipulation, and cold saline application and had small causal co-occurrences. These results suggest that the proper combination of high-resolution microelectrodes and analytic techniques can capture neuronal dynamics that lay between somatic action potentials and aggregate population activity. Understanding intermediate microscale dynamics in relation to single-cell and network dynamics may reveal important details about activity in the full cortical circuit