Global Network Research Articles

Burden of Neurologic Health Care and Incident Neurologic Diagnoses in the Year After COVID-19 or Influenza Hospitalization.

Following the outbreak of viral infections from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus in 2019 (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]), reports emerged of long-term neurologic sequelae in survivors. To better understand the burden of neurologic health care and incident neurologic diagnoses in the year after COVID-19 vs influenza, we performed an analysis of patient-level data from a large collection of electronic health records (EMR). We acquired deidentified data from TriNetX, a global health research network providing access to EMR data. We included individuals aged 18 years or older during index event, defined as hospital-based care for COVID-19 (from April 1, 2020, until November 15, 2021) or influenza (from 2016 to 2019). The study outcomes were subsequent health care encounters over the following year for 6 neurologic diagnoses including migraine, epilepsy, stroke, neuropathy, movement disorders, and dementia. We also created a composite of the 6 diagnoses as an incident event, which we call "incident neurologic diagnoses." We performed a 1:1 complete case nearest-neighbor propensity score match on age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, US census region patient residence, preindex years of available data, and Elixhauser comorbidity score. We fit time-to-event models and reported hazard ratios for COVID-19 vs influenza infection. After propensity score matching, we had a balanced cohort of 77,272 individuals with COVID-19 and 77,272 individuals with influenza. The mean age was 51.0 ± 19.7 years, 57.7% were female, and 41.5% were White. Compared with patients with influenza, patients with COVID-19 had a lower risk of subsequent care for migraine (HR 0.645, 95% CI 0.604-0.687), epilepsy (HR 0.783, 95% CI 0.727-0.843), neuropathies (HR 0.567, 95% CI 0.532-0.604), movement disorders (HR 0.644, 95% CI 0.598-0.693), stroke (HR 0.904, 95% CI 0.845-0.967), or dementia (HR 0.931, 95% CI 0.870-0.996). Postinfection incident neurologic diagnoses were observed in 2.79% of the COVID-19 cohort vs 4.91% of the influenza cohort (HR 0.618, 95% CI 0.582-0.657). Compared with a matched cohort of adults with a hospitalization or emergency department visit for influenza infection, those with COVID-19 had significantly fewer health care encounters for 6 major neurologic diagnoses over a year of follow-up. Furthermore, we found that COVID-19 infection was associated with a lower risk of an incident neurologic diagnosis in the year after infection.

Analysis of the structure of the global avocado (Persea americana Mill) trade network

ective: To analyze the structure of the global avocado trade network and to understand the dynamics of commercial interaction between the leading countries in the market, using the social network analysis approach. Design/Methodology/Approach: One-hundred thirty-three countries that established 989 commercial exchange relationships were analyzed. This exchange accounted for 99% of the volume of the global avocado market for the year 2021. Results: The significant diversification in the import sources and export destinations of countries such as Netherlands and Spain suggests a robust and diversified trade strategy. Network indicators give a valuable insight into the centrality and importance of countries in the global avocado trade network. Mexico plays an important role in the network that goes beyond the quantity produced. Study Limitations/Implications: The most current analyzed data available to date belong to the year 2021. Findings/Conclusions: The analysis reveals the complex dynamics of interaction between the leaders of the global avocado trade.

StCoExpNet: a global co-expression network analysis facilitates identifying genes underlying agronomic traits in potatoes.

We constructed a gene expression atlas and co-expression network for potatoes and identified several novel genes associated with various agronomic traits. This resource will accelerate potato genetics and genomics research. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the world's most crucial non-cereal food crop and ranks third in food production after wheat and rice. Despite the availability of several potato transcriptome datasets at public databases like NCBI SRA, an effort has yet to be put into developing a global transcriptome atlas and a co-expression network for potatoes. The objectives of our study were to construct a global expression atlas for potatoes using publicly available transcriptome datasets, identify housekeeping and tissue-specific genes, construct a global co-expression network and identify co-expression clusters, investigate the transcriptional complexity of genes involved in various essential biological processes related to agronomic traits, and provide a web server (StCoExpNet) to easily access the newly constructed expression atlas and co-expression network to investigate the expression and co-expression of genes of interest. In this study, we used data from 2299 publicly available potato transcriptome samples obtained from 15 different tissues to construct a global transcriptome atlas. We found that roughly 87% of the annotated genes exhibited detectable expression in at least one sample. Among these, we identified 281 genes with consistent and stable expression levels, indicating their role as housekeeping genes. Conversely, 308 genes exhibited marked tissue-specific expression patterns. We exemplarily linked some co-expression clusters to important agronomic traits of potatoes, such as self-incompatibility, anthocyanin biosynthesis, tuberization, and defense responses against multiple pathogens. The dataset compiled here constitutes a new resource (StCoExpNet), which can be accessed at https://stcoexpnet.julius-kuehn.de . This transcriptome atlas and the co-expression network will accelerate potato genetics and genomics research.

Tidal Effects on the Schumann Resonance Amplitudes Recorded by the Global Coherence Monitoring System

The main scientific result of this paper is the demonstration of the fact that tidal effects induced by the Moon affect the Schumann resonance amplitudes measured at magnetometers located at different geographical locations of the Global Coherence Monitoring System. Each magnetometer is paired with the closest monitoring station of the global tidal wave measurement network. This paper introduces the Schumann Resonance Complexity Index (SRCI), computed by using the calibrated H-rank algorithm on the local magnetic field data recorded by each magnetometer of the Global Coherence Monitoring System. Tidal wave data recorded at each monitoring station are also used to compute the Tidal Wave Complexity Index (TWCI). Eliminating diel cycles from the SRCI data yields significant statistical correlations between the SRCI and TWCI data, proving the hypothesis of tidal effects on the global network of magnetometers.

Global Production Networks and Dynamic Cores in the World’s Main Nodes: The Technological-Productive Transition of the Automotive Industry

The global production networks (GPNs) perspective, to account for key aspects of the new global space, takes on its full dimension from a theoretical-methodological approach to capitalism in terms of historical-spatial phases of development, implying the existence of industrial cycles differentiated by their dynamic core. The global automotive industry is undergoing a profound transformation due to the transition to electric and autonomous vehicles. Under its preceding technological-productive base, it had become part of the automotive-mechanical-metal-petrochemical complex that constituted the dynamic core of the Fordist-Keynesian development phase. Underlying this transition is a process of technological-productive revolutionization in the industry by the electronic-informatics and telecommunications sector, which constitutes the dynamic core of a new industrial cycle typical of the current phase of development. This implies a changing technological-productive base and a spatial and hierarchical reconfiguration of the automotive industry, with macro-regions and new leading countries, old leading macro-regions and countries that have become second-tier players, and new competing countries; with the deployment of new GPNs involving the dynamic cores of global nodes within macro-regions. This article concludes that the actual further regionalization of GPNs between the dynamic cores is in contradiction to the necessary global sourcing of key elements of the industry.

Characterization and Discrimination of Marigold Oleoresin from Different Origins Based on UPLC-QTOF-MS Combined Molecular Networking and Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Marigold oleoresin is an oil-soluble natural colorant mainly extracted from marigold flowers. Xinjiang of China, India, and Zambia of Africa are the three main production areas of marigold flowers. Therefore, this study utilized ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) technology, combined with Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) and multivariate statistical analysis, for the qualitative and discriminant analysis of marigold oleoresin obtained from three different regions. Firstly, 83 compounds were identified in these marigold oleoresin samples. Furthermore, the results of a principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) indicated significant differences in the chemical compositions of the marigold oleoresin samples from different regions. Finally, 12, 23, and 38 differential metabolites were, respectively, identified by comparing the marigold oleoresin from Africa with Xinjiang, Africa with India, and Xinjiang with India. In summary, these results can be used to distinguish marigold oleoresin samples from different regions, laying a solid foundation for further quality control and providing a theoretical basis for assessing its safety and nutritional aspects.

Global Financial Investment Connectedness, ICT, and Intellectual Property Strategies: A Country-Level Empirical Analysis

This study investigated the direct and indirect impacts of financial investment connectedness and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on countries’ intellectual property (IP) strategies. By utilizing the panel logit model on longitudinal country-level data, we found that countries’ positions in the global financial investment network significantly affect their IP strategies. Furthermore, ICT usage weakens the IP strategies’ reliance on global financial investment connectedness. This study is among the first to link financial investment connectedness and ICT to intellectual property strategy. The implications for governments managing financial investment portfolios and making intellectual property strategies are derived.

Pharmacovigilance: A Necessary Tool for Drug Safety Monitoring Globally

Pharmacovigilance, which is like a parasol to define the procedures for monitoring and analysing adverse drug reactions (ADRs), is a crucial part of efficient clinical practise, public health initiatives, and drug control systems. The volume of data processed has increased as a result of the rise in reported adverse drug reactions (ADRs), and understanding pharmacovigilance requires a high degree of skill in order to quickly identify medication hazards and defend the product against an unwarranted removal. An impartial method of evaluation would strengthen the present global network of pharmacovigilance centres, which is managed by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre. This would take into account contentious and significant medication safety problems that might have a negative impact on public health across international borders. Pharmacovigilance has recently focused mostly on identifying previously unrecognised or poorly understood adverse medication occurrences. Pharmacovigilance is a crucial and essential component of clinical research, and it is now expanding in many nations. However, with the turn of the millennium, pharmacovigilance confronts enormous hurdles in aspect of improving safety and monitoring of medications. Today, several pharmacovigilance centres are engaged for drug safety monitoring in this global arena. In this overview, we'll talk about medication safety, the function of international pharmacovigilance centres, the advantages and drawbacks of pharmacovigilance, and how it may be used in the future by the healthcare industry.
 Keywords: Drug safety, Adverse drug reaction, Drug Monitoring, Erice declaration, pharmacovigilance

Prospects for the development of the library network in Dagestan in 1950s: a gender approach

   In the modern society government authorities pay quite a lot of attention to the development of the socio-cultural sphere in the country. Despite the fact that at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century, libraries began to take on the functions of abolished cultural centers due to a significant reduction in the network of socio-cultural institutions. The functions of information centers have been added to the traditional functions of an educational nature, preservation and enhancement of cultural heritage, providing access to national and global information networks and databases. Today, modern library science presents new analytical capabilities for the study and analysis of library communications. One of these is a gender perspective, which looks at the norms and cultural symbols that men and women bring to the library profession.   The purpose of the research is to study this aspect in the socio-cultural sphere at the regional level, which allows us to trace the uniqueness of general processes within individual national republics.   To achieve this goal, the task has been formulated to reflect the history of the development of the library network in 1950s in the region using a gender approach. In the research methods of comparative historical analysis were used, as well as the principles of objectivism and historicism, which provided the opportunity to analyze various episodes and phenomena from a historical point of view. When studying the questions posed, the author has come to the conclusion that Russian historiography today has almost no research devoted to the study of the development of librarianship through the prism of gender stereotypes. This study is an attempt to highlight the development of librarianship, with an emphasis on women's experiences in this profession.

Wear monitoring of micro-milling tools based on Improved Siamese Neural Network

Micro-milling is employed for the precise machining of small components with intricate characteristics, and the quality of micro-milling is significantly influenced by the uncertainty surrounding tool wear. Monitoring the wear status of micro-milling tools holds great significance in enhancing machining efficiency and sustainability. In this work, wear monitoring of micro-milling tools method was proposed based on Improved Siamese Neural Network. The Improved Siamese Neural Network used two different global feature extraction networks. The features were input into the t improved Siamese neural network model for similarity score calculation and anomaly detection, which improves the detection accuracy of the abnormal state of micro-milling tool wear. In addition, Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) data augmentation is used to address the issue of abnormal data imbalance during the data preparation stage. The experiments show that the classification accuracy and the precision of the model on the micro-milling tool wear dataset is 92.15% and 93.32% respectively, indicating that the model has good stability and effectiveness.

Paradigm Shift of Interventional Strategies and Outcomes for Acute Limb Ischemia Post-Pandemic.

We performed a large-scale comparison of patients treated for acute limb ischemia (ALI) in the pre-COVID (2017-2019) and COVID (2020-2022) eras to evaluate changes in interventional strategies and compare factors associated with adverse outcomes. We sought to characterize patient outcomes in an evolving ALI treatment algorithm in response to pandemic-associated presentation delays and rapid technological advancements in mechanical thrombectomy (MT). Using the TriNetX global research network, we conducted a multicenter query across 80 health care organizations (HCOs) spanning 4 countries for patients treated for ALI. Propensity score matching was performed to account for comorbidities. Risk of adverse outcomes within 30 days was calculated for each era, including re-intervention (RI30), major/minor amputation, and death. Patients were then stratified by initial intervention: open revascularization (OR), MT, or catheter-directed thrombolysis and adjunctive endovascular procedures alone (CDT/EP). Risk of adverse outcomes was compared between treatment groups of the same era. After propensity score matching, the pre-COVID era and COVID era cohorts included 7344 patients each. COVID era patients experienced a statistically significant higher risk of 30-day mortality (RR=1.211, p=0.027). Mechanical thrombectomy interventions were performed more frequently in the COVID era (RR=1.314, p<0.0001). Comparing outcomes between treatment groups, MT patients required RI30 more than OR patients (pre-COVID: RR=2.074, p=0.006; COVID: RR=1.600, p=0.025). Open revascularization patients had higher 30-day mortality (pre-COVID: RR=2.368, p<0.0001; COVID: RR=2.013, p<0.0001) and major amputations (pre-COVID: RR=2.432, p<0.0001; COVID: RR=2.176, p<0.0001) than CDT/EP. Pre-COVID CDT/EP patients were at higher risk for RI30 (RR=1.449, p=0.005) and minor amputations (RR=1.500, p=0.010) than OR. The MT group had higher major amputation rates than CDT/EP (pre-COVID: RR=2.043, p=0.019; COVID: RR=1.914, p=0.007). COVID-era MT patients had greater 30-day mortality (RR=1.706, p=0.031) and RI30 (RR=1.544, p=0.029) than CDT/EP. Significant shifts toward an MT-based approach have been observed in the last 3 years. Although MT required more RI30 than OR, there was no associated consequence of mortality and limb salvage. The increased mortality seen among COVID-era patients could be explained by delayed presentation, as well as poorly understood pro-thrombogenic or pro-inflammatory mechanisms related to the first waves of COVID. More research is necessary to determine an optimal treatment algorithm. Comorbid risk factors and severity of ischemia must be carefully considered before selecting an interventional strategy to prevent adverse outcomes and maximize limb salvage. Open revascularization strategies are associated with increased mortality and limb loss compared to less-invasive thrombolytic therapy alone. Mechanical thrombectomy (MT)-based approaches have been increasingly used in the last 3 years. Patients receiving MT are more likely to require reintervention within 30 days.

Analysis of the Network Efficiency of Chinese Ports in Global Shipping under the Impacts of Typhoons

With the increasing volume of international trade and maritime demand, the requirements for the stability and reliability of the global shipping system are also increasing. The research on the network efficiency of Chinese ports for global shipping can not only examine the importance of Chinese ports in the shipping network but also find out the aspects that need to be improved in the construction of the port’s climate adaptability in the resilience assessment to strengthen port construction and further improve the efficiency of the network. The current study builds a shipping network based on RCEP and systematically examines the key ports in China within the networks. The research paper aims to improve the resilience of the ports and the whole shipping network in response to typhoon disasters. As such, this paper focuses on shipping research based on complex networks and network multi-centricity analysis, followed by a ranking of ports. Firstly, this paper uses UCINET 6 software to build a global shipping network. Such a network evaluates the centrality of ports, calculates the degree of centrality, proximity to centrality, and centrality, and scores them according to the ranking. Then, it selects the top 20 ports in China according to the ranking and researches network efficiency for the listed ports considering the typhoon risks. The analysis of network robustness, average shortest path length, and network efficiency are carried out for the shipping network and China’s essential port nodes in the network. According to the experimental results, no matter the robustness, average shortest path length, or network efficiency, when the important ports of China in the shipping network are affected, they will cause different degrees of impact, and the performance loss caused by multiple ports is higher than that of a single port. They emphasise the significant impact of typhoons on multiple ports and remind people to minimise losses as much as possible based on experimental results, ensuring the stable operation of ports and improving resilience in typhoon prevention under the changing climate. Additionally, they provide a solid foundation to further sustain global shipping network resilience.

Transcriptome-wide expression landscape and starch synthesis pathway co-expression network in sorghum.

The gene expression landscape across different tissues and developmental stages reflects their biological functions and evolutionary patterns. Integrative and comprehensive analyses of all transcriptomic data in an organism are instrumental to obtaining a comprehensive picture of gene expression landscape. Such studies are still very limited in sorghum, which limits the discovery of the genetic basis underlying complex agricultural traits in sorghum. We characterized the genome-wide expression landscape for sorghum using 873 RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) datasets representing 19 tissues. Our integrative analysis of these RNA-seq data provides the most comprehensive transcriptomic atlas for sorghum, which will be valuable for the sorghum research community for functional characterizations of sorghum genes. Based on the transcriptome atlas, we identified 595 housekeeping genes (HKGs) and 2080 tissue-specific expression genes (TEGs) for the 19 tissues. We identified different gene features between HKGs and TEGs, and we found that HKGs have experienced stronger selective constraints than TEGs. Furthermore, we built a transcriptome-wide co-expression network (TW-CEN) comprising 35 modules with each module enriched in specific Gene Ontology terms. High-connectivity genes in TW-CEN tend to express at high levels while undergoing intensive selective pressure. We also built global and seed-preferential co-expression networks of starch synthesis pathways, which indicated that photosynthesis and microtubule-based movement play important roles in starch synthesis. The global transcriptome atlas of sorghum generated by this study provides an important functional genomics resource for trait discovery and insight into starch synthesis regulation in sorghum.

Satellite-based entanglement distribution and quantum teleportation with continuous variables

Advances in satellite quantum communications aim at reshaping the global telecommunication network by increasing the security of the transferred information. Here, we study the effects of atmospheric turbulence in continuous-variable entanglement distribution and quantum teleportation in the optical regime between a ground station and a satellite. More specifically, we study the degradation of entanglement due to various error sources in the distribution, namely, diffraction, atmospheric attenuation, turbulence, and detector inefficiency, in both downlink and uplink scenarios. As the fidelity of a quantum teleportation protocol using these distributed entangled resources is not sufficient, we include an intermediate station for either state generation, or beam refocusing, in order to reduce the effects of atmospheric turbulence and diffraction, respectively. The results show the feasibility of free-space entanglement distribution and quantum teleportation in downlink paths up to the LEO region, but also in uplink paths with the help of the intermediate station. Finally, we complete the study with microwave-optical comparison in bad weather situations, and with the study of horizontal paths in ground-to-ground and inter-satellite quantum communication.

Sanctified suffering and the common good: Translocal health care provisioning in smalltown Senegal

AbstractSenegal has long relied on local communities to expand health services and improve health outcomes for citizens and is internationally lauded for its effectiveness in promoting good health and facilitating local trust. Here we examine how community health care emerges in Keur Toma, a rural Wolof town in the Senegal River Valley that relies on a global network of labor migrants to fuel its remittance‐based economy. Largely through its hometown association and the migrant men abroad who fund it, Keur Toma has built and sustained the local health infrastructure and staffing essential to achieving health care accessibility, providing consistent investment and critical stop‐gap funding when government assistance falters. Following Robbins's call for investigating “an anthropology of the good,” we highlight the deeply rooted sense of care and obligation to kin and community that fosters the translocal ties that make Keur Toma's health care possible in the state's absence. We highlight what Ngom calls “sanctified suffering”—which valorizes personal fortitude and the ability to endure hardships for family and community, shaped by traditions of solidarity, mutual aid, and Islamic morality—and its role in migrants' hometown commitments to building stronger communities.

Exploring gestational age, and birth weight assessment in Thatta district, Sindh, Pakistan: Healthcare providers' knowledge, practices, perceived barriers, and the potential of a mobile app for identifying preterm and low birth weight.

Reliable methods for identifying prematurity and low birth weight (LBW) are crucial to ending preventable deaths in newborns. This study explored healthcare providers' (HCPs) knowledge, practice, perceived barriers in assessing gestational age and birth weight and their referral methods for preterm and LBW infants. The study additionally assessed the potential of using a mobile app for the identification and referral decision of preterm and LBW. This qualitative descriptive study was conducted in Thatta District, Sindh, Pakistan. Participants, including doctors, nurses, lady health visitors, and midwives, were purposefully selected from a district headquarter hospital, and private providers in the catchment area of Global Network's Maternal and Newborn Health Registry (MNHR). Interviews were conducted using an interview guide after obtaining written informed consent. Audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using NVIVO® software with an inductive approach. The HCPs had extensive knowledge about antenatal and postnatal methods for assessing gestational age. They expressed a preference for antenatal ultrasound due to the perceived accuracy, though accept practical barriers including workload, machine malfunctions, and cost. Postnatal assessment using the Ballard score was only undertaken sparingly due to insufficient training and subjectivity. All HCPs preferred electronic weighing scales for birth weight Barriers encountered included weighing scale calibration and battery issues. There was variation in the definition of prematurity and LBW, leading to delays in referral. Limited resources, inadequate education, and negative parent past experiences were barriers to referral. Foot length measurements were not currently being used. While mobile apps are felt to have potential, unreliable electricity supply and internet connectivity are barriers. The HCPs in this study were knowledgeable in terms of potential tools, but acknowledged the logistical and parental barriers to implementation.

Impact of the Russia–Ukraine Conflict on Global Marine Network Based on Massive Vessel Trajectories

Maritime transportation plays a vital role in global trade, and studying the resilience of the global maritime network is crucial for ensuring its sustainable development. Currently, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has garnered significant global attention. However, there is a lack of specific research on the impact of the conflict on maritime shipping, particularly the resilience of the global maritime network. This paper proposes a resilience assessment framework under the influence of significant events by combining complex network metrics and network performance indicators from the resilience triangle model. It quantitatively evaluates the resilience changes in the global maritime network before and after the outbreak of the Russia–Ukraine conflict. The experiment utilizes real automatic identification system (AIS) maritime trajectory data to quantify and visualize the changes in global maritime traffic during a 20-day period before and after the conflict, constructing the global maritime network for resilience calculations. The research findings indicate the following changes occurred after the Russia–Ukraine conflict. Firstly, the global maritime industry experienced overall growth, with increased ship transportation between ports. Transportation in certain regions was negatively affected, with a significant decrease in ship activities in the Black Sea and Adriatic Sea areas. The positions of Russia and Ukraine in the world maritime industry noticeably declined. Secondly, the network connectivity, network size, and network density of the global maritime network significantly increased, indicating an enhanced network resilience. According to our quantitative results, from a topological perspective, we observed the following changes: network connectivity increased by 27.2%, network scale increased by 36.6%, network density increased by 32.4%, and network resilience increased by 18.6%. Thirdly, the global maritime network is characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity, and the impact of conflicts on the heterogeneity of the shipping network is not significant. Finally, the network exhibited a slower performance decline under random attacks, while deliberate attacks led to a sharp decline. Due to the adaptive nature of the maritime network, the resilience of the network improves in terms of its topology following the outbreak of conflicts. After conflict incidents, the rate of performance decline during simulated attacks is lower compared to the pre-conflict period.

Assessing and managing the risk of Aedes mosquito introductions via the global maritime trade network.

The global shipping network (GSN) has been suggested as a pathway for the establishment and reintroduction of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus primarily via the tire trade. We used historical maritime movement data in combination with an agent-based model to understand invasion risk in the United States Gulf Coast and how the risk of these invasions could be reduced. We found a strong correlation between the total number of cargo ship arrivals at each port and likelihood of arrival by both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus. Additionally, in 2012, 99.2% of the arrivals into target ports had most recently visited ports likely occupied by both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus, increasing risk of Aedes invasion. Our model results indicated that detection and removal of mosquitoes from containers when they are unloaded effectively reduced the probability of mosquito populations establishment even when the connectivity of ports increased. To reduce the risk of invasion and reintroduction of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus, surveillance and control efforts should be employed when containers leave high risk locations and when they arrive in ports at high risk of establishment.

Reconceiving China's urban economic transition through symbiotic state-firm dynamics: An integrated perspective from urban governance and global production networks

China's urban economic transition since the 2000s has garnered considerable scholarly interest. Two distinct bodies of scholarship, namely urban governance and global production networks, have investigated this phenomenon, each offering unique insights either from an endogenous state-centric or exogenous firm-centric approach. The former has justifiably accentuated the centrality of the state in shaping Chinas urban-regional economic reconfiguration but lacks exploration of the multifaceted ways in which state apparatus engages with a spectrum of quotidian firm-level activities and the negotiation power these firms wield. The latter embraces an exogenous firm-centric perspective on the economic transition in East Asia latecomer regions, stressing forces of globalisation, foreign investment, and intra/inter/extra-firm networks, but tends to bracket the state into the institutional background and, therefore, downplays its agentic role. By initiating a dialogue between these two theoretical frameworks, this paper formulates a dialectical state-firm relational approach, offering a revitalised, integrative comprehension of China's urban economic transformation. Employing Dongguan - a globally recognised hub for ICT manufacturing - as an empirical focal point, it elucidates how the relational state-firm dynamics evolve temporally, differ spatially across territories and scales, and display distinct contrasts between high-value-added and labour-intensive sectors within the ICT industry.

Metabolic Comparison and Molecular Networking of Antimicrobials in Streptomyces Species

Streptomyces are well-known for producing bioactive secondary metabolites, with numerous antimicrobials essential to fight against infectious diseases. Globally, multidrug-resistant (MDR) microorganisms significantly challenge human and veterinary diseases. To tackle this issue, there is an urgent need for alternative antimicrobials. In the search for potent agents, we have isolated four Streptomyces species PC1, BT1, BT2, and BT3 from soils collected from various geographical regions of the Himalayan country Nepal, which were then identified based on morphology and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The relationship of soil microbes with different Streptomyces species has been shown in phylogenetic trees. Antimicrobial potency of isolates was carried out against Staphylococcus aureus American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) 43300, Shigella sonnei ATCC 25931, Salmonella typhi ATCC 14028, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603, and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. Among them, Streptomyces species PC1 showed the highest zone of inhibition against tested pathogens. Furthermore, ethyl acetate extracts of shake flask fermentation of these Streptomyces strains were subjected to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) analysis for their metabolic comparison and Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) web-based molecular networking. We found very similar metabolite composition in four strains, despite their geographical variation. In addition, we have identified thirty-seven metabolites using LC-MS/MS analysis, with the majority belonging to the diketopiperazine class. Among these, to the best of our knowledge, four metabolites, namely cyclo-(Ile-Ser), 2-n-hexyl-5-n-propylresorcinol, 3-[(6-methylpyrazin-2-yl) methyl]-1H-indole, and cyclo-(d-Leu-l-Trp), were detected for the first time in Streptomyces species. Besides these, other 23 metabolites including surfactin B, surfactin C, surfactin D, and valinomycin were identified with the help of GNPS-based molecular networking.