The national palace museum as a case study for client-and-industry collaboration in the design and development of museum products

Since 1970s, contemporary museums have taken a far more active role in promoting themselves through management and marketing than before. Several internationally wellknown museums, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have been undergoing this process. The National Palace Museum (NPM) is also following this trend. Since 2008 the NPM has played the role of promoting cultural and creative industries based on Taiwan government policy. Under the concept of “Old is New” introduced by the NPM, the museum hopes to engage younger audiences in Chinese culture and promote its image and collection by holding museum product design competitions and the “Workshop for cultural and creative development” to interpret ancient creativity by contemporary design concept. By collaborating with industry, the NPM hopes to engage and nurture young talented designers in Chinese culture, and market its brand through the designers’ creative interpretation of the museum collection. This research focuses on the NPM and the “Workshop for cultural and creative development” as case study. The NPM workshop aims at educating and nurturing designers with knowledge of Chinese culture through its collection so that the designers can present new interpretations of old designs. The workshop was examined for the collaboration between the NPM and five selected design companies that participated in the development of museum products. Qualitative data collected from interviews with NPM staff and design companies were analysed to identify the various levels of collaboration and responses, and types of outcomes in relation to the museum’s aims. Research findings show that various issues affected design process and the collaborations between the NPM and participating companies, such as the interpretation of collection, creativity of design concepts, and difficulties in production. Design companies also responded to the workshop in different ways. The workshop is also a channel not only for the NPM to seek potential partnership, but also provides participants with an opportunity to collaborate with the Museum. Nevertheless the workshop demonstrates potential as a management strategy to facilitate the relationship between the NPM and the cultural and creative industry in the design and development of museum products

Experimental analysis of power harvesting on vehicle vibration using smart piezoelectric materials

In this paper the experimental analysis for power harvesting from mechanical vibration on a vehicle has been studied by using QuickPack smart materials with piezoelectric effect. The finite element ANSYS method (ANSYS FEM) was applied to explore the required mechanical structure, modal and harmonic analysis, and electrical feature, i.e., output voltage, admittance. The experimental platform consists of a shocker and a lever, which simulated a periodical oscillation on vehicle vibration, for evaluating conversion efficiency from mechanical energy to electrical energy. During loading experiments of power generation, the electromechanical coupling characteristics of smart materials were investigated via a proposed testing circuit. Also, various electrical output loadings were specified within resistance of 5~3000 kΩ. Through the experiment analysis, the power harvesting test with a buck converter at the output terminal was processed to obtain the spectrum analysis of output voltage within the vibrating frequencies below 200 Hz, controlled by the electromagnetic shaker. Based on the comparison between ANSYS FEM and spectrum analysis, the optimal results of mechanical oscillating quantities have been verified by the maximum output voltage for the QuickPack NQ45N material. Hence, the optimum power harvesting of the smart material has the maximum output power of 0.18 mW at 26-Hz-vibration on a vehicle

RNA interference of argininosuccinate synthetase restores sensitivity to recombinant arginine deiminase (rADI) in resistant cancer cells

Background Sensitivity of cancer cells to recombinant arginine deiminase (rADI) depends on expression of argininosuccinate synthetase (AS), a rate- limiting enzyme in synthesis of arginine from citrulline. To understand the efficiency of RNA interfering of AS in sensitizing the resistant cancer cells to rADI, the down regulation of AS transiently and permanently were performed in vitro, respectively. Methods We studied the use of down-regulation of this enzyme by RNA interference in three human cancer cell lines (A375, HeLa, and MCF-7) as a way to restore sensitivity to rADI in resistant cells. The expression of AS at levels of mRNA and protein was determined to understand the effect of RNA interference. Cell viability, cell cycle, and possible mechanism of the restore sensitivity of AS RNA interference in rADI treated cancer cells were evaluated. Results AS DNA was present in all cancer cell lines studied, however, the expression of this enzyme at the mRNA and protein level was different. In two rADI-resistant cell lines, one with endogenous AS expression (MCF-7 cells) and one with induced AS expression (HeLa cells), AS small interference RNA (siRNA) inhibited 37-46% of the expression of AS in MCF- 7 cells. ASsiRNA did not affect cell viability in MCF-7 which may be due to the certain amount of residual AS protein. In contrast, ASsiRNA down- regulated almost all AS expression in HeLa cells and caused cell death after rADI treatment. Permanently down-regulated AS expression by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) made MCF-7 cells become sensitive to rADI via the inhibition of 4E-BP1-regulated mTOR signaling pathway. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that rADI-resistance can be altered via AS RNA interference. Although transient enzyme down- regulation (siRNA) did not affect cell viability in MCF-7 cells, permanent down- regulation (shRNA) overcame the problem of rADI-resistance due to the more efficiency in AS silencing

Spatial, temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019 : a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Ending the global tobacco epidemic is a defining challenge in global health. Timely and comprehensive estimates of the prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden are needed to guide tobacco control efforts nationally and globally. Methods We estimated the prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden for 204 countries and territories, by age and sex, from 1990 to 2019 as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study. We modelled multiple smoking-related indicators from 3625 nationally representative surveys. We completed systematic reviews and did Bayesian meta-regressions for 36 causally linked health outcomes to estimate non-linear dose-response risk curves for current and former smokers. We used a direct estimation approach to estimate attributable burden, providing more comprehensive estimates of the health effects of smoking than previously available. Findings Globally in 2019, 1.14 billion (95% uncertainty interval 1.13-1.16) individuals were current smokers, who consumed 7.41 trillion (7.11-7.74) cigarette-equivalents of tobacco in 2019. Although prevalence of smoking had decreased significantly since 1990 among both males (27.5% [26. 5-28.5] reduction) and females (37.7% [35.4-39.9] reduction) aged 15 years and older, population growth has led to a significant increase in the total number of smokers from 0.99 billion (0.98-1.00) in 1990. Globally in 2019, smoking tobacco use accounted for 7.69 million (7.16-8.20) deaths and 200 million (185-214) disability-adjusted life-years, and was the leading risk factor for death among males (20.2% [19.3-21.1] of male deaths). 6.68 million [86.9%] of 7.69 million deaths attributable to smoking tobacco use were among current smokers. Interpretation In the absence of intervention, the annual toll of 7.69 million deaths and 200 million disability-adjusted life-years attributable to smoking will increase over the coming decades. Substantial progress in reducing the prevalence of smoking tobacco use has been observed in countries from all regions and at all stages of development, but a large implementation gap remains for tobacco control. Countries have a dear and urgent opportunity to pass strong, evidence-based policies to accelerate reductions in the prevalence of smoking and reap massive health benefits for their citizens. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Five insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a rules-based synthesis of the available evidence on levels and trends in health outcomes, a diverse set of risk factors, and health system responses. GBD 2019 covered 204 countries and territories, as well as first administrative level disaggregations for 22 countries, from 1990 to 2019. Because GBD is highly standardised and comprehensive, spanning both fatal and non-fatal outcomes, and uses a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of hierarchical disease and injury causes, the study provides a powerful basis for detailed and broad insights on global health trends and emerging challenges. GBD 2019 incorporates data from 281 586 sources and provides more than 3.5 billion estimates of health outcome and health system measures of interest for global, national, and subnational policy dialogue. All GBD estimates are publicly available and adhere to the Guidelines on Accurate and Transparent Health Estimate Reporting. From this vast amount of information, five key insights that are important for health, social, and economic development strategies have been distilled. These insights are subject to the many limitations outlined in each of the component GBD capstone papers.Peer reviewe

Erratum to: Comparison of the Z/γ* + jets to γ + jets cross sections in pp collisions at √s = 8

Erratum to: JHEP10(2015)128. ArXiv ePrint: 1505.06520. The online version of the original article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2015)128

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