Number Of Patents Research Articles

Exosome Therapy: A Novel Approach for Enhancing Estrogen Levels in Perimenopause.

Perimenopause significantly impacts women's health globally, often managed with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) despite the associated risks. This study explores a novel alternative exosome therapy, aimed at stimulating estrogen production in ovarian tissues, thus offering a potential non-hormonal treatment for perimenopausal symptoms. Employing ex vivo methodologies, ovarian cortex specimens from perimenopausal women were treated with exosomes derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells and cultured under specific conditions (patent number: PCT/US2022/073467). The exosomes were produced under cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) conditions, ensuring high safety standards. Estrogen levels were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and gene expression changes in estrogen and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) receptors were assessed via quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was utilized to evaluate cellular proliferation and apoptotic markers. The results indicated a significant increase in estrogen levels and estrogen receptor-alpha (Erα) expression in treated tissues compared to controls. Additionally, a decrease in apoptotic markers and an increase in cellular proliferation markers were observed. These findings suggest that exosome therapy can effectively enhance estrogen production and modulate receptor sensitivity in perimenopausal ovarian tissues. This approach could serve as a safer alternative to HRT, aligning with the body's natural regulatory mechanisms and potentially offering a more effective treatment option for managing perimenopausal symptoms.

Data Envelopment Analysis-Based Approach to Improving of the Budget Allocation System for Decarbonization Targets

Energy innovation plays an important role in the transition to a zero-carbon economy. Governments in IEA member countries are investing in the R&D, demonstration, and deployment of new energy technologies as part of their energy and climate policies. However, government subsidies for energy innovation are not always efficient in achieving climate policy goals. This paper proposes a two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis model with shared inputs to determine the optimal allocation of public funds for the energy innovation process. The innovation process is divided into two stages: the R&D stage and the commercialization stage. The inputs to the model (budget expenditures for energy innovations) are distributed between the first and second stages. As intermediate products, we use the number of patents in clean energy and hydrocarbon energy. The outputs of the model are the changes in carbon intensity and energy efficiency. This model can be used to assess the effectiveness of government spending on energy innovation. The results show that some IEA member countries should allocate a large part of the fossil fuel technology budget (more than 70%) to the research and development phase. The proposed model can support decision making at the international level to increase the effectiveness of public policies in achieving decarbonization and energy efficiency goals.

Technological Advancement in Solar Photovoltaic Recycling: A Review

This review examines the technological surveillance of photovoltaic panel recycling through a bibliometric study of articles and patents. The analysis considered the number of articles and patents published per year, per country, and, in the case of patents, per applicant. This analysis revealed that panel recycling is an increasingly prominent research area. However, the number of patents filed annually has varied in recent years, averaging fewer than 200 per year. The state-of-the-art review identified three main types of treatment for photovoltaic panel recycling: mechanical, chemical, and thermal. Among these, mechanical treatment serves as a preliminary stage before the recovery of valuable elements, which is achieved through chemical or thermal processes. The articles reviewed cover a range of processes, including hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical methods, and explore various classification processes, solvents, and oxidizing agents. In contrast, patents predominantly focus on pyrometallurgical processes. This analysis is supplemented by a survey of market-ready technologies, many of which include stages such as size reduction or delamination followed by pyrometallurgical processes. Additionally, the review highlights the collection processes implemented by some companies, noting that the volume of panels considered waste is currently insufficient to maintain a continuous and year-round operational process. This study identifies key challenges such as (i) reducing solar panel size due to the EVA polymer complicating conventional machinery use, (ii) high process costs from the need for high temperatures and costly additives, (iii) the environmental impact of thermal treatments with high energy consumption and air pollution, and (iv) the necessity for environmentally friendly solvents in hydrometallurgical treatments to reduce contamination during recycling. Future directions include developing specific machinery for panel size reduction, either creating or modifying a polymer to replace EVA for easier treatment, adopting hydrometallurgical treatments with green solvents proven effective in recycling minerals and electronic waste, and addressing the lack of detailed information on industrial processes to make more precise recommendations.

Causal Linkages Between Patenting Abroad and Promoting FDI Through the Prism of Social Network Analysis

ABSTRACT This paper presents a combination between social network analysis (SNA) and Granger causality tests for 34 members of the OECD in the period 2005–2018. We examine the possible causal linkages which have not been considered adequately so far, between outward-inward FDI and patenting abroad networks for promoting FDI. We demonstrate that linking frequency of patenting abroad and FDI participation increased, and that the bi-directional causal relationship between patentees and official foreign direct investment (OFDI) is strongly heterogeneous with some positive effects. This indicates causality from international patenting to FDI and not vice versa. Hence, the number of patents registered by foreigners helps FDI investors to conduct investments.

Cleaner production promotion law and pollution: Firm level evidence from China

Using the formulation and implementation of China's Cleaner Production Promotion Law (CPPL) in 2003 as a quasi-natural experiment and a unique combined dataset of Annual Survey of Industrial Production Database and China Industrial Enterprise Pollution Emissions Database over 1998–2013, we investigate the impact of ex-ante prevention policies on firm pollution emissions. Our DID and DDD results show that: 1) The CPPL has significantly reduced firm's per unit of output emissions of SO2 and COD; 2) China's CPPL reduced firm pollution emissions intensity by reducing resource consumption, increasing firms' TFP and the number of green patents (Porter effect), and increasing the total amount of pollutants removal per unit of output; 3) The impact of CPPL on pollution shows modest firm heterogeneity, with larger effects on SOEs and on large-scale enterprises. The conclusions of this paper reveal that China's CPPL, as a formal rule of law regulation and ex-ante prevention policy, not only reduces the pollution intensity of enterprises from the input side, but also stimulate the Porter effect, and reduces the pollution removal level.

Assessing the Development Level of the Digital Economy Using Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation: A Comparative Study of the Yangtze River Delta and Kyushu Region

In the context of economic development, the role of the digital economy is increasingly prominent. To deeply understand this phenomenon, this paper constructs a digital economy development evaluation model and applies the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to assign weights to 15 key indicators. Furthermore, the Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method is used to measure and compare the development of the digital economy in the three provinces and one city of the Yangtze River Delta in China and nine counties of the Kyushu area in Japan. The results show that Shanghai and Zhejiang provinces have the most outstanding performance in digital economy development, while Miyazaki Prefecture is relatively lagging. Based on these findings, this paper proposes to focus on the growth rate of patent numbers and strengthen the construction of innovative entrepreneurial ecosystems as recommendations to provide useful references for the future development of the digital economy.

The development status and future trends of lubricant additives technology: Based on patents analysis.

In order to reveal the current status and future trends of lubricant additives, this study analyzes the structured and unstructured data of 77701 lubricant additive patents recorded by Patsnap. The results show that China is the country with the largest number of patents in this field, and the United States is the main exporting country of international technology flow; the current research and development of lubricant additives is dominated by multifunctional composite additives; environmentally friendly additive compositions are the current research hotspot; and more environmentally friendly and economically degradable additives have more development potential in the future. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the research and application of lubricant additives and contributes to the future development of the lubricant industry.

Design and application of alaryngeal mask and monitoring device facilitating withdrawal of endotracheal tube

Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) is a surgical method for quickly establishing an artificial airway, which has been favored by clinicians because of its simple operation, small trauma and bedside operation. However, for patients with tracheal intubation in intensive care unit (ICU), the tip and balloon of the existing endotracheal tube will not only hinder percutaneous puncture, but also hinder insertion of guidewire and tracheotomy tube, and consequently affect the process of PDT. On the contrary, blind withdrawal of the existing endotracheal tube may cause the tracheal tube tipleave the glottis, leading to an emergency airway situation that endangers the patient's life. Therefore, the medical staff from intensive care medicine department of the First People's Hospital of Chenzhou designed a laryngeal mask and its monitoring device, which is convenient for withdrawal of endotracheal tube, and obtained the national utility model patent of China (patent number: ZL 2020 2 2795887.1). The device is composed of a laryngeal mask and a monitoring device. The laryngeal mask mainly includes a laryngeal mask body, a vent tube, a guidance tube and other components. The laryngeal mask body is mainly used to seal the throat and provide the air supply channel for the patient together with the ventilation tube. The main function of the guidance tube is to accommodate the tracheal tube and facilitate the withdrawal of the inserted tracheal tube. During percutaneous dilatation tracheotomy, this device can monitor the withdrawal of tracheal catheter in real time, and immediately ensure the airway patency of patients without re-intubation when the cuff of tracheal catheter exits the glottis. The utility model has the advantages of real-time monitoring, simple operation, safety and convenience, and is worthy of transformation and promotion.

Substrate-based synthetic strategies and biological activities of 1,3,4-oxadiazole: A review.

The five-membered 1,3,4-oxadiazole heterocyclic ring has received considerable attention because of its unique bio-isosteric properties and an unusually wide spectrum of biological activities. After a century since 1,3,4-oxadiazole was discovered, its uncommon potential attracted medicinal chemist's attention, leading to the discovery of a few presently accessible drugs containing 1,3,4-oxadiazole units, and a large number of patents have been granted on research related to 1,3,4-oxadiazole. It is worth noting that interest in 1,3,4-oxadiazoles' biological applications has doubled in the last few years. Herein, this review presents a comprehensive overview of the recent achievements in the synthesis of 1,3,4-oxadiazole-based compounds and highlights the major advances in their biological applications in the last 10 years, as well as brief remarks on prospects for further development. We hope that researchers across the scientific streams will benefit from the presented review articles for designing their work related to 1,3,4-oxadiazoles.

Firm Innovation in Hazy Days: Chinese Evidence

This paper estimates the causal effect of air pollution on firm innovation based on a nationwide sample of Chinese manufacturing firms. Using thermal inversion as instrument variable (IV), we demonstrate that air pollution significantly hurts firm innovation performance: a 1% increase in air pollution (PM2.5) in the past year, from its mean value, amounts to a 1.5% decrease in the number of invention patents compared to the average between 1999 and 2013. We also provide the casual estimate using regression discontinuity design (RDD) by exploiting the exogenous variation in pollution level caused by China’s Huai River policy: the decrease in firms’ invention patents is approximately 2.2% in the regions north of the Huai River Line. The underlying mechanism analyses reveal that poor air quality has detrimental effects on labor productivity, firms’ human capital accumulation, and financing ability. These findings highlight the substantial costs associated with air pollution, which are greater than previously thought, as it hinders innovation, a crucial driver of long-term economic growth.

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON IT COMPANIES’ INNOVATION ACTIVITY IN THE USA

The study analyzes the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on such innovative activity indicators as R&D spending and the number of international patents of American IT companies. The sample includes 130 US companies from 2010 to 2021. The data are analyzed using the models with fixed individual effects and robust errors, Tobit and Heckman models. According to the findings R&D/Sales ratio has not changed during the pandemic. However, R&D expenditures increased during the pandemic for highly innovative firms and companies from the technology equipment sector increased analogue capitalized R&D. Besides, firms that had international patents before the pandemic granted more patents for registration during the pandemic. A one-year lag was found between innovations’ input in the form of R&D investment and innovations’ output in the form of international patents. These findings allow us to conclude that COVID-19 has a positive impact only on highly innovative companies in the United States.

Exploring the influence of fintech patents on operation efficiency and market efficiency in Taiwan's commercial banking sector‐meta entropy dynamic two‐stage DDF model

AbstractThis paper presents a meta entropy dynamic two‐stage DDF model, incorporating significant patents in financial technology (fintech) into the analysis to examine the operational and market efficiencies of banks in Taiwan, providing new insights for research on banking performance and government policy. The results show the following. (1) The most efficient bank is Cathay Financial, while the bottom three are First Financial, E.SUN Financial, and Hua Nan Financial. (2) Financial holding companies (FHCs) outperform non‐FHCs in both operational and market stages. (3) The number of patents has a positive impact on the market stage efficiency of banks.

The sustainable development goals: Theory and a holistic evidence from the USA

This study emphasizes a crucial consideration for policymakers working towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, such as social welfare, environmental sustainability, democratic governance, fair income distribution, and other related goals. Policymakers need to account for the characteristics of series associated with these goals, specifically their stationarity or the presence of unit roots; the reason is that these characteristics have a significant impact on the success of the policies. Notably, policies relying on unit root series may result in costly and time-consuming efforts to achieve the targeted SDGs. This study investigates interactions between seventeen SDGs for the USA with a holistic approach between 1960–2022. This investigation employs the FWADF, FWKSS, and Bai-Perron tests for seventeen selected representative variables (series) of the SDGs. Finally, it presents and discusses the main policy implications of the empirical findings for seven series (variables) containing unit roots. The findings of this study have necessary implications for policymakers and the achievement of the USA’s SDGs. One of the empirical findings of this study is that the Energy Policy Act enacted in 2003 encouraged more significant development and use of clean and renewable energy, denoting SDG7 in the USA. Another finding is that contrary to expectations, there was no significant increase in the number of patents denoting SDG9 after the America Invents Act came into force in 2013.

Biochar: From Laboratory to Industry Scale—An Overview of Scientific and Industrial Advances, Opportunities in the Brazilian Context, and Contributions to Sustainable Development

Waste treatment and valorization have become crucial for sustainable development towards a circular economy. As an alternative, biochar production is a promising process to convert wastes into a valuable product that presents several potential applications to cope with environmental problems. Biochar in recent years has been the subject of many studies, which have leveraged the number of patents and the industrial interest in this process. Against this background, this overview aimed: (i) to identify the advances in biochar research; (ii) to assess the number of patents on biochar over the years; (iii) to look at the industrial production of biochar worldwide; (iv) to detect the potential for biochar production in Brazil regarding waste biomass availability; and (v) to discuss the potential of biochar in contributing to reach some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The holistic analysis presented here suggests that progress has been made in research, patent development, and industrial implementation of biochar, and that its potential role in achieving certain SDGs is noteworthy. Therefore, this overview can be useful in guiding future research about biochar to improve the knowledge of the different branches in this field.

Growing Technological Relatedness to the ICT Industry and Its Impacts

In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, industries across various sectors are increasingly leveraging information and communication technologies (ICT) to drive innovation and gain a competitive edge. Our study reveals that, as industries become more closely connected to the ICT sector, they experience a significant shift in their innovation processes and outcomes. By analyzing 1.3 million U.S. patents granted between 1981 and 2010, we demonstrate that industries with stronger ties to the ICT sector (i.e., higher “ICT-closeness”) exhibit a greater proportion of ICT technologies in their patent portfolios and enhanced complementarity between ICT and non-ICT patents. Furthermore, ICT-Closeness results in greater innovation efficiency (the number of patents per R&D capital), recombinant creation (the creation of new technological combinations), recombinant reuse (the refinement and reuse of known technological combinations), and the creation of new business models. These findings have important implications for practitioners. Specifically, our research highlights the importance of strategically integrating ICT into their technological innovations. Managers should actively seek opportunities to collaborate with and learn from the ICT sector to enhance their innovative capabilities, create new products, services, and business methods, and ultimately gain a competitive advantage. However, they must also be prepared for the heightened competition that comes with increased ICT-closeness, as it can lead to winner-take-all dynamics and market turbulence.

Patent Portfolios Protecting 10 Top-Selling Prescription Drugs

Brand-name drugs are sold at high prices in the US during market exclusivity periods protected by patents. Multiple overlapping patents protecting a drug are known as patent thickets and can effectively delay the emergence of price-lowering generic competition for many years. To evaluate the composition of patent thickets of 10 top-selling prescription drugs in the US and compare the characteristics of drug patents filed during development with those filed on these products after US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. This cross-sectional study examined US patent thickets of the 10 prescription drugs with the highest US net sales revenue in 2021 using information on issued patents and patent applications as of June 30, 2022, obtained from a public database by the Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge. Data were analyzed from September 2022 to June 2023. Prevalence of patents filed before and after FDA approval; types of claims present in issued patents (ie, chemical composition, method of use, process or synthesis, formulation, and delivery device); and patent thicket density (number of active patents at a given time). The 10 top-selling prescription drugs in the US for 2021 included 4 small-molecule drugs and 6 biologics. These 10 drugs were linked to 1429 patents and patent applications: 742 (52%) issued patents, 218 (15%) pending applications, and 469 (33%) abandoned applications. Almost three-quarters of patent applications (1028 [72%]) were filed after FDA approval. The postapproval proportion was higher for biologics (80%) than for small-molecule drugs (58%). Postapproval filing of patent applications peaked in the first 5 years after FDA approval for small-molecule drugs and 12 years after FDA approval for biologics. Of 465 patents issued for applications filed after FDA approval, 189 (41%) had method of use claims, 127 (27%) had formulation claims, and 103 (22%) had process or synthesis claims, while 86 (19%) had chemical composition claims and 46 (10%) had device claims. Patent thicket density peaked 13 years after FDA approval, at which time these 10 drugs were protected by a median (IQR) of 42 (18-83) active patents, 66% of which were filed after FDA approval. This study found that among the 10 top-selling prescription drugs in the US in 2021, patents filed after FDA approval and containing claims covering aspects other than the active ingredient of the drug contributed to patent thickets. Scrutiny of patent applications and of patents filed after FDA approval is needed to facilitate timely generic or biosimilar competition.

A novel easy-to-desorb eluant contributes to address environmental contamination of African swine fever virus

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly pathogenic and rapidly disseminated virus with strong viability in the environment, suggesting the importance of environmental detection for prevention and control in all the pig industry. However, the detection results of environmental swabs cannot always reflect the accurate status of viral pollution, leading to persistent ASFV environmental contamination. In this study, we developed an ASFV eluant with higher environmental ASFV detection efficiency relative to 0.85% saline solution, which obtains the patent certificate issued by the China Intellectual Property Office (patent number:202010976050.9). qPCR analysis showed that in the environmental swab samples, the number of viral copies was 100 times higher for the ASFV eluant treatment than the traditional eluant treatment (0.85% saline solution). And besides, the high sensitivity of the ASFV eluant had be verified in a slaughterhouse environmental sampling detection. In soil samples, the ASFV eluent showed the same extraction effect as the TIANamp Soil DNA Kit, in contrast to no extraction effect for 0.85% saline solution. Simultaneously, this eluent could protect ASFV from degradation and allow the transportation of samples at ambient temperature without refrigeration. In clinical practice, we monitored the environmental contamination condition of the ASFV in a large-scale pig farm. The results shown that the ASFV load decreased after every disinfection in environment. This study provides an effective solution for surveilling the potential threat of ASFV in environment.

The determinants of municipal solid waste management efficiency in EU countries

The main purpose of this paper is to assess the municipal solid waste management (MSWM) efficiency of European Union countries and to identify the determinants of this efficiency before and after introducing Directive (EU) 2018/851. The research was conducted for 23 EU Member States in order to analyse the two highest-priority waste treatment methods (material recycling and energy recovery) and the level of greenhouse gases emitted by the waste management sector. The data for 2015-2020 were extracted from the Eurostat database. The period of data was divided into two sub-periods: 2015-2017 (the period before introducing the Directive) and 2018-2020. MSWM efficiency scores were calculated using the DEA method. Later, the Tobit Regression Model (TRM) was applied to identify the determinants. The efficiency analysis showed that the countries which joined the EU before 2000 improved their MSWM efficiency in 2018-2020 compared with 2015-2017. On the other hand, the average efficiency scores of the countries that joined the EU after 2000 decreased. In 2015-2017, the following determinants of MSWM efficiency occurred to be statistically significant: population density, unemployment rate, the number of patents and the tourism intensity index, while in 2018-2020: population density, unemployment rate, Research & Development (R&D) expenditure, higher education proportion and MSW generated. A detailed analysis of these variables showed that the countries that joined the EU after 2000 should first increase their R&D expenditure and support their inhabitants in increasing their educational level.

Analysis of the relationship between carbon pricing and green innovation: A multidimensional study in 35 countries

Increased greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause of global warming, leading to effects such as rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and unprecedented species extinction. The 2015 Paris Agreement, with the participation of 195 countries, aimed to reduce CO₂e emissions and limit the increase in global temperature to 2 °C compared to pre-industrial levels. Academia, the World Bank, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development emphasize CO₂e pricing as a crucial initiative to mitigate global warming and promote a low-carbon economy. This can be achieved through taxes on fossil fuel emissions or a carbon credit auction system such as the Emissions Trading System (ETS). However, complexity arises when considering cross-border pricing limitations and the concern that companies may relocate to countries with less stringent environmental regulations. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the correlations between the 35 countries that have CO₂e pricing practices. Data and methods involved statistical analysis of three exogenous variables using SPSS software: a) countries' position in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranking; b) historical number of green patents registered in these countries; and c) the number of scientific articles published with decarbonization as a central topic. The results suggest a virtuous cycle in these countries, where CO₂e pricing leads to an increase in green articles and patents, contributing to their improved position in the global EPI ranking. The main implications of this study are that achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement will require a collective effort from all countries, and therefore, good practices must be encouraged and replicated. Meeting decarbonization targets necessitates structural changes, such as those in the current energy model. This virtuous cycle should be extended to other countries that do not yet practice CO₂e pricing to advance the goal of mitigating global warming and transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

Patent Mining on the Use of Antioxidant Phytochemicals in the Technological Development for the Prevention and Treatment of Periodontitis.

Periodontal disease is an inflammatory condition characterized by an aberrant immune response against a dysbiotic dental biofilm, with oxidative stress performing an essential role in its pathogenesis. This paper presents a patent mining, performed in the Orbit Intelligence patent database, related to antioxidant phytochemicals in the technological developments that are working to prevent and treat periodontal disease. To access the documents, the descriptors "PERIODONTAL" and "ANTIOXIDANT" were typed in the title, abstract, and claim search fields. A total of 322 patents demonstrate the growing interest in researching natural antioxidants for scientific and technological purposes. The top ten countries regarding the number of family patents produced were the United States, the European Office, Japan, South Korea, China, India, Mexico, Denmark, Canada, and Great Britain. The most cited compounds were vitamin C, green tea, quercetin, melatonin, lycopene, resveratrol, and curcumin. These compounds have been used for the technological development of gels, membranes, dentifrices, chewing gum, orally disintegrating film, mouthwash, mouth spray, and mouth massage cream and exhibit the ability to neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative stress, a critical factor in the development and progression of periodontal diseases. The patent documents have shown that using antioxidant compounds in conjunction with traditional periodontal treatments is a promising area of interest in periodontal therapy.