THE IMPACT OF INNOVATION ON ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE SPILLOVER EFFECT OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

Purpose of the study: Innovation is seen as the key to improving quality and productivity, thereby promoting competition and economic growth. This study analyzes the impact of innovation on economic growth through various measures, such as research and development spending, the number of researchers, number of patents as well as trademark registrations. Research results are evidence to recommend policies for intellectual-based economic growth. Methodology: Literature review and empirical analysis conducted in the study. The empirical method is a two-step System Generalize Methods of Moments (GMM), aiming at reliable results. Accessing the World Bank Database, research data from 64 developed and developing countries are collected from 2006 to 2014. Main Findings: The empirical findings show that innovation plays a crucial contribution in promoting economic growth, similar to national openness and government spending on education. This study also finds a positive impact on foreign investment flows and their spillover role in enhancing the correlation between innovation and economic growth. Applications of this study: The findings of this study focus on the contributions of innovation, foreign direct investment inflows, and other macro factors that can be enforced to improve economic growth by policymakers. Novelty/Originality of this study: The study uses different measures of innovation, including inputs such as the number of researchers, research and development expenditure, and outputs as the number of patents and number of trademark registrations. Empirical findings are found consistently, thus confirming that innovation is very important for economic growth. The study also shows convincing evidence confirming the positive contribution of foreign direct investment as well as its spillover effect on innovation and economic growth

PSSA- INTERNATIONAL SOLUTION TO PROTECT THE BIODIVERSITY IN HA LONG BAY - CAT BA MARINE AREA

A Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) is an important management tool for biodiversity protection of a marine area. At the time of designation of a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area, an associated protective measure, which meets the requirements of the appropriate legal instrument establishing such measure, must have been approved or adopted by IMO to prevent, reduce, or eliminate the threat or identified vulnerability. Information on each of the Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs) that has been designated by IMO is available on the nautical chart. The Vietnam’s coastal zones and islands are the isolated oceanic habitat of extremely rich marine life in very good condition which is important to the maintenance and dispersal of the marine life of the western tropical Pacific. Vietnam coastal areas are very high risk areas affected by maritime activities, particularly international shipping, therefore in the future identification of some Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs) is necessary. The first Particularly Sensitive Sea Area for Vietnam in Ha Long - Cat Ba was initially proposed in this paper

Serum Granulysin in Differentiation of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome/toxic Epidermal Necrolysis and Erythema Multiforme

BACKGROUND: Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are acute, life-threatening drug reactions, which lead to massive epidermal necrolysis. Granulysin plays an important role as a key mediator for keratinocyte apoptosis in these conditions. Erythema multiforme (EM) may have skin manifestation similar to SJS/TEN. AIMS: The aim of the study was to compare serum granulysin levels in patients with SJS/TEN and EM as well as to investigate a possible association between serum granulysin levels and the severity of SJS/TEN. METHODS: In total, 48 patients with SJS/TEN, 43 patients with EM, and 20 health controls (HCs) were enrolled. We measured serum granulysin levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The average level of serum granulysin in the SJS/TEN patients was 23.0 ng/ml (range 1.2–144.6 ng/ml), significantly higher than that of EM group (20.1 ng/ml; range 8.5–121 ng/ml, p < 0.05) and HCs group (20.8 ng/ml; range 10.1–46.7 ng/ml, p < 0.05). Of 48 SJS/TEN patients, the 25 samples collected <6 days after onset showed higher level of serum granulysin (27.7 ng/ml; range 2.5–144.6 ng/ml) than those collected ≥6 days after onset (17.9 ng/ml; range 1.2–59 ng/ml; p > 0.05). No significant correlation was found between serum granulysin levels and the body surface area affected and the modified-SCORTEN. At the day of re-epithelialization, serum granulysin levels were not different compared with those at the day of hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Serum granulysin levels are significantly higher in SJS/TEN group than in EM group. After the onset, serum granulysin levels in patients with SJS/TEN are not a good biomarker to evaluate the severity of the diseases

Adsorptive removal of Pb (II) using exfoliated graphite adsorbent:influence of experimental conditions and magnetic CoFe2O4 decoration

The worm-like exfoliated graphite (EG) based adsorbents prepared from low-cost natural graphite flakes via facile synthesis processes have been found to be efficient adsorbents when it comes to removing Pb (II) from aqueous solution. EG was fabricated by chemical intercalation and microwave assisted exfoliation. Furthermore, the magnetic exfoliated graphite (MEG) was developed by incorporating CoFe2O4 particles into the EG layers using the citric acid based sol-gel technique. Adsorption behaviour of Pb (II) on the as-prepared adsorbents was investigated by taking several experimental conditions into consideration such as contact time, initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, and pH value. The results with initial neutral pH indicated that the adsorption isotherms for Pb (II) on the EG and MEG were well consistent with the Langmuir isotherm model revealing the maximum adsorption capacity of 106 mg/g and 68 mg/g for EG and MEG, respectively. The adsorption kinetics of Pb (II) was found to adhere to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The chemical interaction between ? electrons on graphite sheets and Pb (II) ions was suggested to play an essential role in the adsorption mechanism. The introduction of magnetic CoFe2O4 to the EG was found to induce the shift of optimal pH value to a more basic condition. The characterization of the adsorbents was performed using relevant analysis techniques such as Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X–ray powder diffraction (XRD), vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR). The results of this work suggest a high possibility for application of the as-prepared modified graphite to remove hazardous substances in practical wastewater treatment systems. ABSTRAK:  Penyerap Pengelupas Grafit (EG) yang berupa seperti cacing dihasilkan dari grafit semulajadi yang murah melalui proses sintesis serpihan, ia juga merupakan penyerap yang bagus dalam mengasingkan Pb (II) daripada larutan akues. EG direka dengan tindak balas interkalasi kimia dan pengelupasan melalui gelombang mikro. Tambahan, pengelupas grafit magnet (MEG) telah dihasilkan dengan memasukkan zarah CoFe2O4 ke dalam lapisan EG menggunakan teknik sol-gel yang berasaskan asid sitrik. Tindak balas penyerapan Pb (II) pada penyerap yang disiapkan ini, dikaji dengan mengambil kira beberapa keadaan eksperimen seperti waktu disentuh, konsentrasi awal, dos penyerap dan nilai pH.  Hasil keputusan pH neutral awal menunjukkan bahawa isoterm penyerapan bagi Pb (II) pada EG dan MEG adalah konsisten dengan model isoterm Langmuir. Ini menunjukkan kapasiti penyerapan maksimum 106 mg/g dan 68 mg/g bagi EG dan MEG, masing-masing. Penyerapan kinetik Pb (II) didapati mematuhi model kinetik pesudo-order-kedua. Interaksi kimia antara elektron ? pada helaian grafit dan ion Pb (II) memainkan peranan penting dalam mekanisme penyerapan. Pengenalan magnet CoFe2O4 kepada EG didapati telah mengubah nilai pH optimum kepada keadaan asal. Pengelasan penyerapan dilakukan menggunakan teknik analisis yang relevan seperti Mikroskop Elektron Pengimbasan (SEM), Difraksi Serbuk sinar-X (XRD), Magnetometer Sampel-Getaran (VSM) dan Inframerah Perubahan-Fourier (FTIR). Hasil kerja ini mencadangkan kemungkinan besar bagi penggunaan grafit ubah suai yang disediakan bagi membuang bahan berbahaya dalam sistem rawatan air sisa praktikal

Heart rate variability during auricular acupressure at the left sympathetic point on healthy volunteers: a pilot study

IntroductionThis research is a pilot, single-blinded study investigating heart rate variability (HRV) during auricular acupressure at the left sympathetic point (AH7) in healthy volunteers.MethodsThere were 120 healthy volunteers with hemodynamic indexes (heart rate, blood pressure) within normal ranges, randomly divided into two groups AG and SG (in each group having a gender ratio 1:1, aged 20−29), to receive either auricular acupressure using ear seed (AG) or sham method using adhesive patches without seed (SG) at the left sympathetic point while lying in a supine position. Acupressure intervention lasted 25 min, and HRV was recorded by a photoplethysmography device–namely, Kyto HRM-2511B and Elite appliance.ResultsAuricular acupressure at the left Sympathetic point (AG) led to a significant reduction in heart rate (HR) (p < 0.05) and a considerable increase in HRV parameters demonstrated by HF (High-frequency power) (p < 0.05), compared to sham auricular acupressure (SG). However, no significant changes in LF (Low-frequency power) and RR (Respiratory rate) (p > 0.05) were observed in both groups during the process.ConclusionThese findings suggest that auricular acupressure at the left sympathetic point may activate the parasympathetic nervous system while a healthy person is lying relaxed

The Effect of Monetary Instrument of Islamic Banking Financing Channel Towards The Economic Growth in Indonesia

Monetary policy is closely related to activities to achieve economic growth, which eventually gives welfare to the community. This study aims to analyze the description of the transmission flow of financing channels, the effect of monetary policy instruments, and their effectiveness to achieve economic growth. The variables used are Islamic Banking Finance (FIN), return of Sharia Bank Indonesia Certificate (SBIS), return of PUAS, and Industrial Production Index (IPI). This study used Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) to determine short- and long-term relationships using the time series data. First, the result of the study showed that the transmission flow could not be identified clearly, because the flow stopped in FIN, and it could not affect IPI, according to the Granger Causality test. Second, the result of VECM estimation showed that all variables only affected long term period and did not affect the short-term period. Third, monetary policy transmission of Islamic banking financing channel was not effective enough, which was proven with the result of IRF simulation, which showed that the effect of shock on financing channel variable (FIN) towards IPI was subsided and stable in the 10th period later. Meanwhile, the result of the FEVD simulation showed that the financing channel variable (FIN) only gave a contribution of as much as 0.14 percent towards IPI. The contribution and policy implications are also discussed in this study

The Light-to-heat Conversion of Gold Nanoshells and Nanorods in Tissues

We perform a set of experiments on photo-heating in tissues containing gold nanoshells (NSs) and nanorods (NRs). The temperature of tissues were measured with different amounts gold NSs and NRs under illumination of a continuous diode laser at 808 nm and power density from 20 to 62 W/cm$^{2}$. The temperature of the tissues injected gold nanoparticles increased to $66 \pm  4$^{\circ}$C for $2.1 \times 10^{8}$ NSs and  $73\pm  4$ $^{\circ}$C for gold $5.4 \times 10^{9}$ NRs after 10 min exposition at power density 35 W/cm$^{2}$. The control tissue without gold nanoparticles demonstrated a significantly lower temperature $40 \pm  4$ $^{\circ}$C in the same time of illumination. The temperature can be reached up to around 100$^{\circ}$C for tissue with both NSs and NRs at 62 W/cm$^{2}$ inrradiation for $7-10$ min

Targeted sequencing from cerebrospinal fluid for rapid identification of drug-resistant tuberculous meningitis

Mortality from tuberculous meningitis (TBM) remains around 30%, with most deaths occurring within 2 months of starting treatment. Mortality from drug-resistant strains is higher still, making early detection of drug resistance (DR) essential. Targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) produces high read depths, allowing the detection of DR-associated alleles with low frequencies. We applied Deeplex Myc-TB-a tNGS assay-to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 72 adults with microbiologically confirmed TBM and compared its genomic drug susceptibility predictions to a composite reference standard of phenotypic susceptibility testing (pDST) and whole genome sequencing, as well as to clinical outcomes. Deeplex detected Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA in 24/72 (33.3%) CSF samples and generated full DR reports for 22/24 (91.7%). The read depth generated by Deeplex correlated with semi-quantitative results from MTB/RIF Xpert. Alleles with <20% frequency were seen at canonical loci associated with first-line DR. Disregarding these low-frequency alleles, Deeplex had 100% concordance with the composite reference standard for all drugs except pyrazinamide and streptomycin. Three patients had positive CSF cultures after 30 days of treatment; reference tests and Deeplex identified isoniazid resistance in two, and Deeplex alone identified low-frequency rifampin resistance alleles in one. Five patients died, of whom one had pDST-identified pyrazinamide resistance. tNGS on CSF can rapidly and accurately detect drug-resistant TBM, but its application is limited to those with higher bacterial loads. In those with lower bacterial burdens, alternative approaches need to be developed for both diagnosis and resistance detection

The immunogenicity of plant-based COE-GCN4pII protein in pigs against the highly virulent porcine epidemic diarrhea virus strain from genotype 2

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a serious infectious causative agent in swine, especially in neonatal piglets. PEDV genotype 2 (G2) strains, particularly G2a, were the primary causes of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) outbreaks in Vietnam. Here, we produced a plant-based CO-26K-equivalent epitope (COE) variant from a Vietnamese highly virulent PEDV strain belonging to genotype 2a (COE/G2a) and evaluated the protective efficacy of COE/G2a-GCN4pII protein (COE/G2a-pII) in piglets against the highly virulent PEDV G2a strain following passive immunity. The 5-day-old piglets had high levels of PEDV-specific IgG antibodies, COE-IgA specific antibodies, neutralizing antibodies, and IFN-γ responses. After virulent challenge experiments, all of these piglets survived and had normal clinical symptoms, no watery diarrhea in feces, and an increase in their body weight, while all of the negative control piglets died. These results suggest that the COE/G2a-pII protein produced in plants can be developed as a promising vaccine candidate to protect piglets against PEDV G2a infection in Vietnam

Computer-aided prognosis of tuberculous meningitis combining imaging and non-imaging data

Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most lethal form of tuberculosis. Clinical features, such as coma, can predict death, but they are insufficient for the accurate prognosis of other outcomes, especially when impacted by co-morbidities such as HIV infection. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characterises the extent and severity of disease and may enable more accurate prediction of complications and poor outcomes. We analysed clinical and brain MRI data from a prospective longitudinal study of 216 adults with TBM; 73 (34%) were HIV-positive, a factor highly correlated with mortality. We implemented an end-to-end framework to model clinical and imaging features to predict disease progression. Our model used state-of-the-art machine learning models for automatic imaging feature encoding, and time-series models for forecasting, to predict TBM progression. The proposed approach is designed to be robust to missing data via a novel tailored model optimisation framework. Our model achieved a 60% balanced accuracy in predicting the prognosis of TBM patients over the six different classes. HIV status did not alter the performance of the models. Furthermore, our approach identified brain morphological lesions caused by TBM in both HIV and non-HIV-infected, associating lesions to the disease staging with an overall accuracy of 96%. These results suggest that the lesions caused by TBM are analogous in both populations, regardless of the severity of the disease. Lastly, our models correctly identified changes in disease symptomatology and severity in 80% of the cases. Our approach is the first attempt at predicting the prognosis of TBM by combining imaging and clinical data, via a machine learning model. The approach has the potential to accurately predict disease progression and enable timely clinical intervention