Hurting without Hitting: The Economic Cost of Political Tension

Political tension causing diplomatic strains rarely escalates into direct violence or war. This paper identifies the economic effects of such non-violent political tension by examining Taiwan’s sovereignty debate. Non-violent events harming the relationship with mainland China lead to an average daily drop of 200 basis points in Taiwanese stock returns. The impact is more severe on firms openly supporting the Taiwanese pro-independence party. Through a series of tests we identify this economic penalty as initiated by mainland authorities, who specifically target political opponents that are economically exposed to mainland China via either investments or exports

Spectral radius conditions for fractional [a,b][a,b]-covered graphs

A graph $G$ is called fractional $[a,b]$-covered if for every edge $e$ of $G$ there is a fractional $[a,b]$-factor with the indicator function $h$ such that $h(e)=1$. In this paper, we provide tight spectral radius conditions for graphs being fractional $[a,b]$-covered.Comment: 9 page

Variational Principle for Nonequilibrium Steady States Tested by Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Model Liquid Crystal Systems

The purpose of the work presented in this chapter is to test a recently proven variational principle according to which the irreversible energy dissipation rate is minimal in the linear regime of a nonequilibrium steady state. This test is carried out by performing molecular dynamics simulations of liquid crystals subject to velocity gradients and temperature gradients. Since the energy dissipation rate varies with the orientation of the director of the liquid crystal relative to these gradients and is minimal at certain orientations, this is a stringent test of the variational principle. More particularly, a nematic liquid crystal model based on the Gay-Berne potential, which can be regarded as a Lennard-Jones fluid generalized to elliptical molecular cores, is studied under planar Couette flow, planar elongational flow, and under a temperature gradient. It is found that the director of a nematic liquid crystal consisting of rod-like molecules lies in the vorticity plane at an angle of about 20° to the stream lines in the planar Couette flow. In the elongational flow, it is parallel to the elongation direction, and it is perpendicular to the temperature gradient in a heat flow. These orientations are the ones where the irreversible energy dissipation rate is minimal, so that the variational principle is fulfilled in these three cases

Cry78Aa, a novel Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal protein with activity against Laodelphax striatellus and Nilaparvata lugens

Transgenic plants expressing insecticidal proteins originating from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have successfully been used to control lepidopteran and coleopteran pests with chewing mouthparts. However, only a handful of Bt proteins have been identified that have bioactivity against sap sucking pests (Hemiptera), including aphids, whiteflies, plant bugs and planthoppers. A novel Bt insecticidal protein with significant toxicity against a hemipteran insect pest is described here. The gene encoding the 359 amino acid, 40.7 kDa protein was cloned from strain C9F1. After expression and purification of the toxin, its median lethal concentration (LC) values against Laodelphax striatellus and Nilaparvata lugens were determined as 6.89 μg/mL and 15.78 μg/mL respectively. Analysis of the toxin sequence revealed the presence of both Toxin_10 and Ricin_B_Lectin domains

A dual ammonia-responsive sponge sensor: preparation, transition mechanism and sensitivity

PDMS-PU (polydimethylsiloxane-polyurethane) sponge decorated with In(OH)(3) (indium hydroxide) and BCP (bromocresol purple) particles is shown to be a room-temperature ammonia sensor with high sensitivity and excellent reproducibility; it can accomplish real-time detection and monitoring of ammonia in the surrounding environment. The superhydrophobic and yellowish In(OH)(3)-BCP-TiO2-based ammoniaresponsive (IBT-AR) sponge changes to a purple superhydrophilic one when exposed to ammonia. Notably, after reacting with ammonia, the sponge can recover its original wettability and color after heating in air. The wettability, color and absorption signal of IBT-AR sponge have been measured for sensing ammonia using the water contact angle, macroscopic observation and UV-vis absorption spectrometry, respectively. The minimum ammonia concentrations that can be detected by the sponge wettability, color and absorption signal are 0.5%, 1.4 ppm and 50 ppb, respectively. This kind of sponge with smart wettability and color is a promising new ammonia detector

Superconductivity at 22.3 K in SrFe2-xIrxAs2

By substituting the Fe with the 5d-transition metal Ir in SrFe2As2, we have successfully synthesized the superconductor SrFe2-xIrxAs2 with Tc = 22.3 K at x = 0.5. X-ray diffraction indicates that the material has formed the ThCr2Si2-type structure with a space group I4/mmm. The temperature dependence of resistivity and dc magnetization both reveal sharp superconducting transitions at around 22 K. An estimate on the diamagnetization signal reveals a high Meissner shielding volume. Interestingly, the normal state resistivity exhibits a roughly linear behavior up to 300 K. The superconducting transitions at different magnetic fields were also measured yielding a slope of -dHc2/dT = 3.8 T/K near Tc. Using the Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg (WHH) formula, the upper critical field at zero K is found to be about 58 T. Counting the possible number of electrons doped into the system in SrFe2-xIrxAs2, we argue that the superconductivity in the Ir-doped system is different from the Co-doped case, which should add more ingredients to the underlying physics of the iron pnictide superconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

A Contactless Health Monitoring System for Vital Signs Monitoring, Human Activity Recognition and Tracking

Integrated sensing and communication technologies provide essential sensing capabilities that address pressing challenges in remote health monitoring systems. However, most of today’s systems remain obtrusive, requiring users to wear devices, interfering with people’s daily activities, and often raising privacy concerns. Herein, we present HealthDAR, a low-cost, contactless, and easy-to-deploy health monitoring system. Specifically, HealthDAR encompasses three interventions: i) Symptom Early Detection (monitoring of vital signs and cough detection), ii) Tracking & Social Distancing, and iii) Preventive Measures (monitoring of daily activities such as face-touching and hand-washing). HealthDAR has three key components: (1) A low-cost, low-energy, and compact integrated radar system, (2) A simultaneous signal processing combined deep learning (SSPDL) network for cough detection, and (3) A deep learning method for the classification of daily activities. Through performance tests involving multiple subjects across uncontrolled environments, we demonstrate HealthDAR’s practical utility for health monitoring

Dynamic covalent macrocycles co-delivering genes and drugs against drug-resistant cancer

Polymeric carriers have dominated the development of delivering chemotherapeutic drugs and genes against drug-resistant cancer. However, the biocompatibility, loading, and release capabilities of polymers are unsatisfactory. Here, we have advanced the delivery system by developing dynamic covalent macrocycles using a dithiol monomer through a thiol/disulfide exchange reaction to co-deliver doxorubicin (DOX) and small interfering RNA (siRNA). Our thermodynamically based macrocycles achieve a drug-loading content of 30.2%, whereas a disulfide polymer prepared from the same monomer under kinetic control cannot load DOX. In combination with siRNA, the macrocycles exhibit excellent delivery efficiency and enhanced anti-tumor efficacy in vitro without systemic toxicity. Our findings suggest that dynamic covalent chemistry offers a powerful strategy for exploring macrocyclic carriers that could replace conventional polymers for co-delivery systems, paving the way to more efficient clinic therapies.</p