Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Foreign Direct Investment – The World Perspective

Purpose – Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been considered a robust element of globalization that was chiefly immune to financial and economic threats. However, late 2019 introduced international direct investors to COVID-19, a yet unknown risk factor. The aim of this study is to take a holistic perspective and test a research hypothesis of a negative impact of COVID-19 on relative inward FDI activity on the global scale.Research method – FDI is modelled with a series of literature-based determinants including aggregate independent variables that allowed to overcome the issue of too many FDI determinants and model underspecification simultaneously. A series of tests is run on two models (n = 152 and n = 141) to assure their econometric validity.Results – Results show that number of COVID-19 related cases and number of deaths have not had an impact on relative inward FDI on the world scale. Originality / value / implications / recommendations – Unlike most studies, this one exa-mines relative FDI host attractiveness from a global/holistic perspective, which provides additional analytical context. Such determinants as market size, access to qualified labour force and quality of governance are shown to trump risks associated with COVID-19 in determining FDI activity. Policymakers should focus on economic growth, access to qualified labour force and political stability. Hence, lockdown policies were not the optimum solution.
Factors Associated with Low Inter-Session Reliability of Conditioned Pain Modulation in Older People with or Without Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Purpose Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is a measurement of the descending pain pathways that inhibit or facilitate afferent noxious stimuli. The reliability of CPM in older individuals with or without chronic musculoskeletal pain has not been sufficiently reported. This study aimed to examine the inter-session reliability of CPM in these cohorts and the factors in CPM reliability. Patients and Methods Individuals aged 65 or older were recruited in Narita, Japan. The measurements were performed on separate days 2 weeks apart (sessions 1 and 2). Each participant’s hand was immersed in cold water, and we measured pressure pain threshold (PPT) before and after the immersion. The ratio before and after PPT measurements was presented as CPM index. The autonomic activities (heart rate variability, heart rate, and blood pressure) were simultaneously measured. An absolute reliability of CPM index was analyzed by the adjusted two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Bland Altman plot, and relative reliability was analyzed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Spearman’s rho correlation and the adjusted multivariate regression analysis were utilized for examining the CPM reliability factors. Results Thirty-two participants were divided into two groups: chronic pain (n=19) and non-chronic pain (n=13) groups. The mean difference between session 1 and 2 in CPM index showed a systematic error in the chronic pain group at 17.3 (confidence interval, CI: 15.0 to 19.7), but none in the non-chronic pain group at 3.7 (CI: −0.02 to 7.4). The adjusted two-way ANOVA for CPM index did not identify any differences. ICC was not significant at p=−0.247 in the non-chronic and 0.167 in chronic pain. Multivariate regression analysis revealed total power and low/high frequencies as significant factors for CPM index. Conclusion This study identified low inter-session reliability in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain and autonomic nervous system activities as factors in CPM reliability.
Mixing of an acoustically pulsed air jet with a confined crossflow

Mean velocity and turbulence profiles, downstream of the jet orifice, in a 10 m/s crossflow have been measured over a range of Strouhal numbers and excitation powers for a jet/crossflow velocity ratio range of 1.3 to 4.6. This showed that acoustically exciting a jet flow causes significant increases in jet spread, penetration (up to 92% increase), and mixing. The jet mixing length was strongly reduced. Toroidal vortices were shown to be shedding from the jet orifice and produced profound changes in the jet structure. Increase of jet penetration and turbulence (hence mixing) began to saturate by about 80-W driving power, thus only small further gains were possible up to the maximum power used of 160 W. The jet turbulence and penetration data showed that the response appeared to be optimum at about a Strouhal number of 0.22. Overall, the jet mixing processes were significantly improved, in a controllable manner, by pulsating the jet flow.
Pressure-driven miscible two-fluid channel flow with density gradients

We study the effect of buoyancy on pressure-driven flow of two miscible fluids in inclined channels via direct numerical simulations. The flow dynamics are governed by the continuity and Navier–Stokes equations, without the Boussinesq approximation, coupled to a convective-diffusion equation for the concentration of the more viscous fluid through a concentration-dependent viscosity and density. The effect of varying the density ratio, Froude number, and channel inclination on the flow dynamics is examined, for moderate Reynolds numbers. We present results showing the spatiotemporal evolution of the flow together with an integral measure of mixing.
The role of CXCL12 axis in pancreatic cancer: New biomarkers and potential targets

Introduction Chemokines are small, secreted peptides involved in the mediation of the immune cell recruitment. Chemokines have been implicated in several diseases including autoimmune diseases, viral infections and also played a critical role in the genesis and development of several malignant tumors. CXCL12 is a homeostatic CXC chemokine involved in the process of proliferation, and tumor spread. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive tumors, that is still lacking effective therapies and with a dramatically poor prognosis. Method We conducted a scientific literature search on Pubmed and Google Scholar including retrospective, prospective studies and reviews focused on the current research elucidating the emerging role of CXCL12 and its receptors CXCR4 – CXCR7 in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. Results Considering the mechanism of immunomodulation of the CXCL12-CXCR4-CXCR7 axis, as well as the potential interaction with the microenvironment in the PDAC, several combined therapeutic approaches have been studied and developed, to overcome the “cold” immunological setting of PDAC, like combining CXCL12 axis inhibitors with anti PD-1/PDL1 drugs. Conclusion Understanding the role of this chemokine’s axis in disease initiation and progression may provide the basis for developing new potential biomarkers as well as therapeutic targets for related pancreatic cancers.
Joint User-Side Recommendation and D2D-Assisted Offloading for Cache-Enabled Cellular Networks With Mobility Consideration

Caching at the wireless edge is recognized as a promising solution to accommodate the explosive growth of traffic demand. However, the gain of edge caching is only pronounced given homogeneous user preference. To reap the full potential of caching, recommendation mechanism has emerged as an attractive technology due to its capability of reshaping users’ request distribution. In this work, we propose a joint user-side recommendation and device-to-device (D2D)-assisted offloading strategy, aiming to maximize the operator’s utility. Specifically, we consider that users can recommend their cached contents to encountered users. This strategy takes into account users’ personalized preferences and relative locations, and hence can directly offload the recommended contents through D2D links without burdening cellular links. We then develop a theoretical framework to evaluate the subsequent content transmission, accounting for the randomness of spatial deployment, user mobility, individual delay requirement, incentive, and protection mechanism for existing links. Based on the analytical results, we design a D2D-assisted offloading strategy, which allows the requester to postpone data reception in exchange for discounted service fees. Simulation results show that the operator’s utility can be significantly improved. Particularly, it is found that user mobility facilitates the above process.
Interventions for reducing blood pressure in prehypertension: A meta-analysis

Background We aimed to address which interventions best control blood pressure (BP) and delay disease progression in prehypertension and to give recommendations for the best option following a quality rating. Methods A Bayesian network meta-analysis was used to assess the effect of the intervention on BP reduction, delaying hypertension progression and final outcome, with subgroup analyses for time and ethnicity. Recommendations for interventions were finally based on cumulative ranking probabilities and CINeMA. Results From 22,559 relevant articles, 101 eligible randomized controlled trial articles (20,176 prehypertensive subjects) were included and 30 pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions were evaluated. Moderate-quality evidence demonstrated that angiotensin II receptor blockers, aerobic exercise (AE), and dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) lowered systolic blood pressure (SBP). For lowering diastolic blood pressure (DBP), AE combined with resistance exercise (RE) or AE alone provided high quality evidence, with calcium channel blockers, lifestyle modification (LSM) combined with drug providing moderate quality evidence. LSM produced the best BP lowering effect at 12 months and beyond of intervention. In Asians, TCD bubble was moderate quality evidence for lowering SBP and RE may have had a BP lowering effect in Caucasians. No recommendation can be given for delaying the progression of hypertension and reducing mortality outcomes because of low to very low quality of evidence. Conclusion AE combined RE are preferentially recommended for BP control in prehypertension, followed by DASH. Long-term BP control is preferred to LSM. Asians and Caucasians add TCD bubble and RE to this list as potentially effective interventions. Systematic review registration https://www.crd. york.ac. uk/prospero/display_record. php? ID=CRD42022356302, identifier: CRD42022356302.
Socio-Cultural Determinants of Parental Refusal for Childhood Vaccination: A Semantic and Latent Thematic Analysis

Incomplete vaccination coverage is hazardous for the upcoming generations of a country. Child immunization against various vaccine-preventable diseases is a focus all over the world. The vaccination schedule information is a vital component of vaccination coverage, and its failure leads to incomplete immunization among newborns. Education, employment, and urban facilities are also essential for the complete immunization of a child. There is a significant difference in vaccination coverage due to all these factors. The main objective of this study was to explore the reasons for incomplete vaccination coverage due to the factors mentioned earlier, like why the information gap is there and what makes uneducated parents vulnerable to incomplete immunization, and why the urban-rural disparity exists regarding complete vaccination coverage in Punjab, Pakistan. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews of the mothers having at least one child from 1-2 years of age to explore factors responsible for incomplete vaccination coverage. Insufficient vaccination coverage was related to perceived adverse effects, cultural settings, information gap, lifestyle, parental employment and occupation, the risk to the immune system, risk perception about the disease, perception of efficacy, and misconception about vaccination. In-depth interviews proved vital for exploring underlying reasons for incomplete vaccination coverage. The current study explicates the profound views of respondents on why they refuse vaccination for their children. There should be a rigorous focus on increasing awareness of vaccination.
Association of prognostic nutritional index with risk of contrast induced nephropathy: A meta-analysis

Background Although prognostic nutritional index (PNI) has been frequently applied in patients with malignancy or those during postoperative recovery, whether it is also an optimal indicator of the risk of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients receiving coronary angiography remains uncertain. This meta-analysis aimed at investigating the clinical association of PNI with the risk of CIN in patients receiving coronary angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention. Methods Embase, Medline, Cochrane Library, and Google scholar were searched for studies until January 2023. The relationship between CIN risk and PNI (i.e., low vs. high) (primary outcome) as well as other variables (secondary outcomes) were analyzed using a random-effects model. Results Overall, 10 observational studies with 17,590 patients (pooled incidence of CIN: 18%) were eligible for analysis. There was a higher risk of CIN in patients with a low PNI compared to those with a high PNI [odd ratio (OR) = 3.362, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.054 to 5.505, p < 0.0001, I2 = 89.6%, seven studies, 12,972 patients, certainty of evidence: very low]. Consistently, a lower PNI was noted in patients with CIN compared to those without (Mean difference = −5.1, 95% CI: −6.87 to −3.33, p < 0.00001, I2 = 96%, eight studies, 15,516 patients, certainty of evidence: very low). Other risks of CIN included diabetes and hypertension, while male gender and the use of statins were associated with a lower risk of CIN. Patients with CIN were older, had a higher creatinine level, and received a higher contrast volume compared to those without. On the other hand, pre-procedural albumin, estimated glomerular filtration rate, ejection fraction, hemoglobin, lymphocyte ratio were found to be lower in patients with CIN than in those without. Conclusion This meta-analysis highlighted an inverse association of PNI with the risk of CIN, which required further studies for verification. Systematic review registration [https://www.crd. york.ac. uk/prospero/], identifier [CRD42023389185].
Family context as a double-edged sword for psychological distress amid the COVID-19 pandemic with the mediating effect of individual fear and the moderating effect of household income

Background The COVID-19 pandemic drives psychological distress. Previous studies have mostly focused on individual determinants but overlooked family factors. The present study aimed to examine the associations of individual and family factors with psychological distress, and the mediating effect of individual fear and the moderating role of household income on the above associations. Methods We conducted a population-based cross-sectional survey on Chinese adults in Hong Kong from February to March 2021 (N = 2,251) to measure the independent variables of anti-epidemic fatigue, anti-epidemic confidence, individual and family members’ fear of COVID-19, and family well-being (range 0–10), and the dependent variable of psychological distress (through four-item Patient Health Questionnaire, range 0–4). Results Hierarchical regression showed that anti-epidemic fatigue was positively (β = 0.23, 95% CI [0.18, 0.28]) while anti-epidemic confidence was negatively (β = −0.29, 95% CI [−0.36, −0.22]) associated with psychological distress. Family members’ fear of COVID-19 was positively (β = 0.11, 95% CI [0.05, 0.16]) while family well-being was negatively (β = −0.57, 95% CI [−0.63, −0.51]) associated with psychological distress. Structural equation model showed that individual fear mediated the above associations except for family well-being. Multi-group analyses showed a non-significant direct effect of anti-epidemic confidence and a slightly stronger direct effect of family well-being on psychological distress among participants with lower incomes, compared to those with higher incomes. Conclusion We have first reported the double-edged effect of family context on psychological distress, with the positive association between family members’ fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress fully mediated by individual fear and the negative association between family well-being and psychological distress moderated by income level. Future studies are warranted to investigate how the contagion of fear develops in the family and how the inequality of family resources impacts family members’ mental health amid the pandemic.
Local containment policies and countrywide spread of COVID-19 in the United States: an epidemiologic analysis

ABSTRACT We analyse the spatial diffusion of new COVID-19 cases and the countrywide impact of state-specific containment policies during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We first use spatial econometric techniques to document direct and indirect spillovers of new infections across county and state lines, as well as the impact of individual states’ lockdown policies on infections in neighbouring states. We find consistent statistical evidence that new cases diffuse across county lines, holding county-level factors constant, and that the diffusion across counties was affected by the closure policies of adjacent states. We then develop a spatial version of the epidemiological susceptible–infected–recovered (SIR) model where new infections arise from interactions between infected people in one state and susceptible people in the same or in neighbouring states. We incorporate lockdown policies into our model and calibrate the model to match both the cumulative and the new infections across the 48 contiguous US states and DC. Our results suggest that had the states with the less restrictive social distancing measures tightened them by one level, the cumulative infections in other states would be about 5% smaller. In our spatial SIR model, the spatial containment policies such as border closures have a bigger impact on flattening the infection curve in the short-run than on the cumulative infections in the long-run.
Systemic treatment with cigarette smoke extract affects zebrafish visual behaviour, intraocular vasculature morphology and outer segment phagocytosis

Introduction Cigarette smoking adversely affects multiple aspects of human health including eye disorders such as age-related macular degeneration, cataracts and dry eye disease. However, there remains a knowledge gap in how constituents of cigarette smoke affect vision and retinal biology. We used zebrafish to assess effects of short-term acute exposure to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on visual behaviour and retinal biology. Methods Zebrafish larvae with a developed visual system at three days post-fertilization (dpf) were exposed to CSE for 4, 24 or 48 hours. Visual behaviour, hyaloid vasculature morphology, retinal histology, oxidative stress gene expression and outer segment phagocytosis were investigated using visual behavioural optokinetic and visual motor response assays (OKR and VMR), microscopy (light, fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy), and real-time PCR. Results In zebrafish larvae, 48 hours of CSE treatment resulted in significantly reduced visual behaviour. Larvae treated with 10, 15 or 20 μg/mL CSE showed an average of 13.7, 10.7 or 9.4 saccades per minute, respectively, significantly lower compared with 0.05% DMSO controls (p=0.0093, p=0.0004 and p<0.0001, respectively) that exhibited 19.7 saccades per minute. The diameter of intraocular vessels increased from 4.833 μm in 0.05% DMSO controls to 5.885 μm in the 20 μg/mL CSE-treated larvae (p=0.0333). Biometry analysis highlighted a significant axial length elongation in 20 μg/mL CSE-treated larvae (216.9 μm, p<0.0001) compared to 0.05% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) controls (205.1 μm). Larvae exposed to 20 μg/mL CSE had significantly (p=0.0002) higher numbers of RPE phagosomes compared to vehicle controls (0.1425 and 0.093 phagosomes/μm RPE, respectively). Conclusions Zebrafish larvae with a developed visual system display apparent defects in visual behaviour and retinal biology after acute exposure to CSE, establishing a valuable in vivo model to investigate ocular disorders related to cigarette smoke.
Genetic diagnostic yields of 354 Chinese ASD children with rare mutations by a pipeline of genomic tests

Purpose: To establish an effective genomic diagnosis pipeline for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for its genetic etiology and intervention. Methods: A cohort of 354 autism spectrum disorder patients were obtained from Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University. Peripheral blood samples of the patients were collected for whole genome sequencing (WGS) and RNA sequencing (RNAseq). Sequencing data analyses were performed for mining the single nucleotide variation (SNV), copy number variation (CNV) and structural variation (SV). Sanger sequencing and quantitative PCR were used to verify the positive results. Results: Among 354 patients, 9 cases with pathogenic/likely pathogenic copy number variation and 10 cases with pathogenic/likely pathogenic single nucleotide variations were detected, with a total positive rate of 5.3%. Among these 9 copy number variation cases, 5 were de novo and 4 were inherited. Among the 10 de novo single nucleotide variations, 7 were previously unreported. The pathological de novo mutations account for 4.2% in our cohort. Conclusion: Rare mutations of copy number variations and single nucleotide variations account for a relatively small proportion of autism spectrum disorder children, which can be easily detected by a genomic testing pipeline of combined whole genome sequencing and RNA sequencing. This is important for early etiological diagnosis and precise management of autism spectrum disorder with rare mutations.
Variance function additive partial linear models

: To model heteroscedasticity in a broad class of additive partial linear models, we allow the variance function to be an additive partial linear model as well and the parameters in the variance function to be diﬀerent from those in the mean function. We develop a two-step estimation procedure, where in the ﬁrst step initial estimates of the parameters in both the mean and variance functions are obtained and then in the second step the estimates are updated using the weights based on the initial estimates. We use polynomial splines to approximate the additive nonparametric components in both the mean and variation functions and derive their convergence rates. The resulting weighted estimators of the linear coeﬃcients in both the mean and variance functions are shown to be asymptotically normal and more eﬃcient than the initial un-weighted estimators. Simulation experiments are conducted to examine the numerical performance of the proposed procedure, which is also applied to analyze the dataset from a nutritional epidemiology study.
Optimal Control Framework for Cruise Economy Mode of Flight Management Systems

The main contribution of this paper is to propose optimal and suboptimal control solutions to the cruise economy mode problem in a flight management system for flights below the drag divergence Mach number. The problem is formulated as an optimization of a functional that trades off the fuel and time-related costs of a flight using a (crew-supplied) cost index CI. A novel approach is proposed based on solving the problem analytically using a combination of Pontryagin’s maximum principle and the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation. A suboptimal analytical solution for the true airspeed is obtained in state feedback form, which reduces to the well-known optimal solution for maximum range when the cost index vanishes. An analytical solution for the speed target as a function of the cost index gives physical insight, allows one to analytically compute sensitivities, and eliminates the need to have a performance database to store the optimal speed schedules in the system. An extension shows that the approach is v.