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This study examines the impact of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) on participation in global value chains (GVCs) among South Asian economies, specifically Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. This research offers new empirical insights into the relatively underexplored relationship between SAFTA and GVCs in the region. The findings indicate that SAFTA has promoted backward GVC participation by increasing the foreign value-added content of exports, particularly from India to Bangladesh and Pakistan, and from Pakistan to Bangladesh. These results suggest untapped potential for expanding regional GVC linkages, as many bilateral GVC connections within South Asia remain underdeveloped.

Pakistan is one of the largest recipients of remittances globally and has substantial remittance inflow fluctuations; thus, finding the remittance-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio threshold is expedient. This study examined the macroeconomic impacts of emigrant remittances in Pakistan using a vector autoregressive estimation framework and investigated the threshold of the remittance-GDP ratio that has real effects on the economy in terms of Dutch Disease and capital accumulation. The empirical results showed that, regarding the Dutch Disease effect, a remittance-GDP ratio greater than 6% leads to a decrease in the manufacturing-services ratio, whereas as for the capital accumulation effect, a remittance-GDP ratio greater than 5% leads to a decrease in the investment-consumption ratio. These outcomes suggested that emigrants' remittance inflows in Pakistan that exceed certain levels relative to the GDP aggravate industrialisation (Dutch Disease effect) and capital accumulation.

This study aims to examine the energy-use inefficiency in Central Asian (CA) countries by using the analytical framework of the energy-environmental Kuznets curve (EEKC). This study’s contribution to the literature, in the first place, is to explicitly target the CA countries in the EEKC analysis. The empirical analyses identified the energy-use inefficiency of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, and could demonstrate the contributions of weak policy governance and their natural resource abundance. This analytical result could also be endorsed by the Uzbekistan case. Thus, the policy implication is that there would be much room for these countries to improve their energy-use efficiency by enhancing their performance of energy policies.

Snap-fit allows plastic products to have assembly and disassembly capabilities without the use of screws, bolts, or other additional parts. For this reason, snap-fit is used in all kinds of plastic products from stationery to automotive parts. Because the mechanical and other functions of a snap-fit are greatly affected by its shape and material properties, it is desirable to fully evaluate them at the design stage. In addition, as the assembly and disassembly of products by snap-fit is generally performed by people, it is important to evaluate not only virtually but also with actual plastic parts. Therefore, there is a strong need to make a prototype and evaluate the feel of the product during assembling and disassembling, before finalizing on the shape and materials. In the past, making precise prototype required expensive molds, but in recent years, additive manufacturing has made it possible to make prototype efficiently and at low cost. In additive manufacturing, fused deposition modeling (FDM) is considered suitable for snap-fit prototype because it can use the same materials as mass-produced products. Thus, it may be possible to make a snap-fit prototype with rigidity, strength, and other characteristics similar to those of mass-produced products. However, FDM has various processing conditions such as tool path, nozzle temperature, and height of one layer. They are expected to have a significant effect on the snap-fit characteristics. Snap-fit is required to meet various requirements depending on the plastic products. The requirements can be divided into three major categories: in assembly, in disassembly, and when to use. In this study, we investigated the effect of FDM processing conditions on snap-fit characteristic in assembly.

As a treatment for humeral transcondylar fractures, conservative therapy is prone to false joints. Although various surgeries are available, plate fixation is highly invasive to soft tissues and prone to contracture of the elbow joint, and percutaneous pinning results in weak fixation and tends to damage the ulnar nerve. In this report of two cases, we describe a new transarticular cartilage retrograde intramedullary pinning surgical method that is less invasive to soft tissues, has an accurate reduction and strong fixation, and does not damage the ulnar nerve. This surgery was performed on two patients with humeral transcondylar fractures who presented to our hospital. Both patients achieved good results, with strong bone fusion and sufficient elbow range of motion for activities of daily life.

Servicification in global value chains (GVCs) in emerging and developing Asian economies has become a trend recently. However, there have been no scientific studies to elucidate the mechanism of servicification in GVCs. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate the involvement of service sectors in GVCs in Asian economies in terms of the quantitative interactions between service inputs and manufacturing exports and inputs and between service inputs and service exports. For this purpose, a panel vector-autoregressive model and the Trade in Value Added database of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) were used for the empirical analysis during 1995-2018. The estimation results find that, first, there exist reciprocal interactions between the business services and manufacturing sectors; foreign business service inputs are induced by manufacturing exports, whereas manufacturing inputs are induced by business service exports. Second, foreign manufacturing inputs facilitate foreign business service inputs. Third, business service inputs are promoted by business service exports. These trends in the involvement of business services' involvement in GVCs have accelerated since the mid-2000s. To enhance the role of services in GVCs, Asian economies should facilitate the removal of explicit restrictions in service trade and address regulatory divergence across countries.

This paper aims to evaluate the extent of China's forward linkage of global value chains (GVCs) with emerging market economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) compared to those with the United States and Japan, and also to examine the nexus of China's forward GVC linkage with logistics performances in emerging ASEAN economies as China's trade partners. This study uses the UNCTAD‐Eora Database and applies a structural gravity trade model for empirical analysis. The statistical observations identified the major position of China's GVC, which has transformed from a backward linkage to a forward linkage since the mid‐2000s. The empirical estimation verified that there is less linkage in China's forward GVC with emerging ASEAN economies than with the United States and Japan, and demonstrated that the lack of logistics performances in emerging ASEAN economies has been a significant factor in explaining the less linkage in China's forward GVC with them.

Background and Objectives: The Dix–Hallpike test (DHT) is the standard diagnostic maneuver for posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). However, some patients present with positional symptoms compatible with BPPV yet show no observable nystagmus on the DHT. We introduced the Head Rotation Sit-up Test (HRST) as a symptom-based maneuver and hypothesized that it would identify DHT-negative patients who nonetheless benefit from canalith repositioning. This study aimed to explore the potential role of the HRST. It was introduced as a complementary, symptom-based maneuver for evaluating non-classical vertigo presentations. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients clinically suspected of having BPPV by the attending physicians at Nara Medical University Hospital (August 2018–July 2022). All underwent both the DHT and HRST; those positive on either test received the Epley maneuver and were included. Patients were categorized as Group 1: DHT(−)/HRST(+), and Group 2: DHT(+), irrespective of the HRST, for the purpose of comparing patients who were positive on the HRST with those positive on the DHT. Post-treatment symptom severity was assessed on a 0–10 scale, with the patient’s most severe pre-treatment symptom defined as 10, and responder rates (post-Epley score < 5) were compared. Results: Among 179 patients with suspected BPPV, 80 were test-positive and were treated with the Epley maneuver. Group 1 comprised 31 patients, who more commonly reported non-rotational symptoms such as floating or unsteadiness, whereas rotational vertigo predominated in Group 2 (n = 49). Median post-Epley scores were significantly lower after treatment in both groups (Group 1: 2 [IQR 0–3]; Group 2: 3 [IQR 0–5]). Group 1 demonstrated a higher responder rate than Group 2 (90.3% vs. 65.3%, p = 0.016). Within Group 2, outcomes did not differ significantly between DHT(+)/HRST(+) and DHT(+)/HRST(−) subgroups. Conclusions: The HRST identified a clinically relevant subgroup of DHT-negative patients who nevertheless responded favorably to the Epley maneuver. Incorporating the HRST alongside the DHT may expand the diagnostic reach for BPPV, particularly among patients with non-classical symptoms or without observable nystagmus. These findings support the HRST as a useful complementary maneuver for detecting Epley responsive, symptom based positional vertigo.

This article aims to examine the monetary policy rule under an inflation targeting in Mongolia with a focus on its conformity to the Taylor principle, through two kinds of approaches: a monetary policy reaction function by the generalized-method-of-moments (GMM) estimation and a New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with a small open economy version by the Bayesian estimation. The main findings are summarized as follows. First, the GMM estimation identified an inflation-responsive rule fulfilling the Taylor principle in the recent phase of the Mongolian inflation targeting. Second, the DSGE-model estimation endorsed theGMMestimation by producing a consistent outcome on the Mongolian monetary policy rule. Third, the Mongolian rule was estimated to have a weaker response to inflation than the rules of the other emerging Asian adopters of an inflation targeting.

The centromere-specific histone H3 variant, CENP-A, is overexpressed in particular aggressive cancer cells, where it can be mislocalized ectopically in the form of heterotypic nucleosomes containing H3.3. In the present study, we report the crystal structure of the heterotypic CENP-A/H3.3 particle and reveal its “hybrid structure”, in which the physical characteristics of CENP-A and H3.3 are conserved independently within the same particle. The CENP-A/H3.3 nucleosome forms an unexpectedly stable structure as compared to the CENP-A nucleosome and allows the binding of the essential centromeric protein, CENP-C, which is ectopically mislocalized in the chromosomes of CENP-A overexpressing cells.