Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Economies

Foreign direct investment is considered to be a very important component of every nation’s attempt towards economic development. It contributes directly to the growth, on this background, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in 29 Emerging economies in a panel data framework, and the objective is analyzed using pooled ordinary least square method, Fixed Effect (FEM) and Random Effect (REM) models. The results of the fixed effect model is selected based on Breusch-Pagan Lagrange multiplier test and Hausman test. The main determinants of foreign direct investment are identified in the selected emerging economies and the policy measures are provided based on the results.
Recognition of multiple effects of ethambutol on metabolism of mycobacterial cell envelope

Ethambutol is known to rapidly inhibit biosynthesis of the arabinan component of the mycobacterial cell wall core polymer, arabinogalactan (K. Takayama and J. O. Kilburn, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 33:1493-1499, 1989). This effect was confirmed, and it was also shown that ethambutol inhibits biosynthesis of the arabinan of lipoarabinomannan, a lipopolysaccharide noncovalently associated with the cell wall core. In contrast to cell wall core arabinan, which is completely inhibited by ethambutol, synthesis of the arabinan of lipoarabinomannan was only partially affected, demonstrating a differential effect on arabinan synthesis in the two locales. Further studies of the effect of ethambutol on cell wall biosynthesis revealed that the synthesis of galactan in the cell wall core is strongly inhibited by the drug. In addition, ethambutol treatment resulted in the cleavage of arabinosyl residues present in the mycobacterial cell wall; more than 50% of the arabinan in the cell wall core was removed from the wall 1 h after addition of the drug to growing mycobacterial cultures. In contrast, galactan was not released from the cell wall during ethambutol treatment. The natural function of the arabinosyl-releasing enzyme remains unknown, but its action in combination with inhibition of synthesis during ethambutol treatment results in severe disruption of the mycobacterial cell wall. Accordingly, ethambutol-induced damage to the cell wall provides a ready molecular explanation for the known synergetic effects of ethambutol with other chemotherapeutic agents. Nevertheless, the initial direct effect of ethambutol remains to be elucidated.
Molecular Interactions between Single-stranded DNA-binding Proteins Associated with an Essential MCAT Element in the Mouse Smooth Muscle α-Actin Promoter*

Transcriptional activity of the mouse vascular smooth muscle α-actin gene in fibroblasts is regulated, in part, by a 30-base pair asymmetric polypurine-polypyrimidine tract containing an essential MCAT enhancer motif. The double-stranded form of this sequence serves as a binding site for a transcription enhancer factor 1-related protein while the separated single strands interact with two distinct DNA binding activities termed VACssBF1 and 2 (Cogan, J. G., Sun, S., Stoflet, E. S., Schmidt, L. J., Getz, M. J., and Strauch, A. R. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 11310–11321; Sun, S. , Stoflet, E. S. , Cogan, J. G. , Strauch, A. R. , and Getz, M. J. (1995) Mol. Cell. Biol. 15, 2429–2936). VACssBF2 has been recently cloned and shown to consist of two closely related proteins, Purα and Purβ (Kelm, R. J., Elder, P. K., Strauch, A. R., and Getz, M. J. (1997)J. Biol. Chem. 272, 26727–26733). In this study, we demonstrate that Purα and Purβ interact with each other via highly specific protein-protein interactions and bind to the purine-rich strand of the MCAT enhancer in the form of both homo- and heteromeric complexes. Moreover, both Pur proteins interact with MSY1, a VACssBF1-like protein cloned by virtue of its affinity for the pyrimidine-rich strand of the enhancer. Interactions between Purα, Purβ, and MSY1 do not require the participation of DNA. Combinatorial interactions between these three single-stranded DNA-binding proteins may be important in regulating activity of the smooth muscle α-actin MCAT enhancer in fibroblasts.
Mass Media Campaign to Reduce Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in a Rural Area of the United States.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate a mass media campaign to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). METHODS We disseminated messages emphasizing the health risks of SSBs through television, digital channels, and local organizations over 15 weeks in 2015-2016 in the Tri-Cities region of northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and southeast Kentucky. We evaluated the campaign with pre- and post-telephone surveys of adults aged 18 to 45 years in the intervention area and by examining changes in beverage sales in the intervention and a matched comparison area in western Virginia. RESULTS Fifty-four percent of postcampaign respondents recalled seeing a campaign advertisement. After the campaign, 53% of respondents believed SSBs were a cause of heart disease, and respondents were more likely postcampaign to consider SSBs a "big cause of diabetes" (75% vs 60%; P < .001). Compared with 12 months before, after the start of the campaign, SSB sales decreased 3.4%, including a 4.1% decrease in soda sales in the intervention area relative to the comparison area (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS This brief media campaign on SSBs was followed by intended changes in beliefs and consumption. Public Health Implications. Additional media campaigns on SSBs should be attempted and evaluated.
Consequences of microbial attachment: directing host cell functions with adhesins

We take the view that adherence is not just a static process of holding hands but rather elicits a response in the targeted cell. From this point of view, adherence is an active process with an outcome. This outcome or fate is predictable only when several parameters of the host cell-adhesin interaction are known: is the adhesin acting alone or in series with other products, is the receptor up- or down-regulated at the time of ligation, which domain of the receptor is bound, and finally, which intracellular response circuits are connected to the receptor in the cell type targeted? Variations in these parameters are the basis for the ability of the adhesins of pathogens to orchestrate outcomes as disparate as simple address recognition versus actin nucleation, cytokine induction, activation of plasmin, derangement of leukocyte migration, or deposition of antibody on host cell membranes. The recognition of the relatedness of some eukaryotic and prokaryotic adhesive domains and the shared use of existing eukaryotic cell-cell interaction systems between host and pathogen suggest that the cellular interactions of interest in eukaryotic cell biology can be revealed by taking clues from the pathogens, which have studied and adapted to them the longest.
Energy cost and physical strain of daily activities in adolescents and young adults with myelomeningocele

The aim of this study was to assess the energy cost and physical strain of daily activities in adolescents and young adults with myelomeningocele (MMC) compared with peers without a disability. Eighteen participants with MMC aged between 16 and 30 years (13 males, five females; mean age 21y 4mo [SD 4y 8mo]) and 18 age‐ and sex‐matched non‐disabled participants performed several standardized activities. Energy cost was assessed by oxygen uptake expressed per unit time (all activities) and per metre (walking and wheelchair use at preferred speed). Physical strain was calculated by dividing energy cost by aerobic capacity. For all activities no difference was found in energy cost per unit time between ambulatory participants with MMC and comparison participants. Energy cost per metre walking at preferred speed in participants with MMC was 0.26ml/kg/m (SD 0.08), and in comparison participants was 0.20ml/kg/m (SD 0.03); p=0.08. Non‐ambulatory participants with MMC had lower energy cost (per unit time and per metre) during wheelchair use than comparison participants during walking (p<0.05). For most activities, physical strain was 1.4 to 2 times higher in participants with MMC than in comparison participants (p<0.05). In conclusion, energy cost per unit time of daily activities was not increased in participants with MMC. However, energy cost per metre during walking at preferred speed and physical strain were higher than in peers without disability.
Endometriosis classification: an update

Purpose of review Endometriosis remains an enigmatic disease for many reasons, not the least being a continued inability to stage its clinical presentation so that prognosis and treatment for both pain and infertility patients can be facilitated. This article reviews issues with current staging systems. Recent findings The revised American Fertility Society (rAFS) classification system has historically been the only classification system. Recently, the ENZIAN classification system, developed as an adjunct to the rAFS to describe more severe disease, has been introduced but is rarely used. More recently, the Endometriosis Fertility Index (EFI) that has been validated to predict pregnancy rates in infertility patients following surgical diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis was published. Currently, the AAGL is developing a categorization system that will be more focused on pain. Novel research in imaging, biomarkers, histology, and the human genome may provide useful information to develop future classification systems. Summary The only validated endometriosis classification system that predicts a clinical outcome is the EFI. It is to be hoped that renewed interest in the importance and utility of classification systems will result in novel classification systems that are clinically useful.
Development of microfluidic device for electrical/physical characterization of single cell

A novel device with microchannels for flowing cells and twin microcantilever arrays for measuring the electrical impedance of a single cell is proposed. The fabrication process is demonstrated and the twin microcantilever arrays have been successfully fabricated. In our research, we measured the electrical impedance for normal and abnormal red blood cell over the frequency range from 1 Hz to 10 MHz. From the electrical impedance experiment of normal and abnormal red blood cell, it was examined that the electrical impedance between normal and abnormal red blood cells was significantly different in magnitude and phase shift. In this paper, we show that the normal cell can be taken apart from the abnormal cell by electrical impedance measurement. Therefore, it is expected that the applicability of this technology can be used in cellular studies such as cell sorting, counting or membrane biophysical characterization.
Active roles for inhibitory κB kinases α and β in nuclear factor-κB–mediated chemoresistance to doxorubicin

Chemotherapy agents have been shown to induce the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and subsequent chemoresistance in fibrosarcomas and other cancers. The mechanism of NF-κB-mediated chemoresistance remains unclear, with a previous report suggesting that doxorubicin induces this response independent of the inhibitory κB kinases (IKK). Other studies have indicated that IKKβ, but not IKKα, is required. Mouse embryo fibroblasts devoid of IKKα, IKKβ, or both subunits (double knockout) were treated with doxorubicin. The absence of either IKKα or IKKβ or both kinases resulted in impaired induction of NF-κB DNA-binding activity in response to doxorubicin. To provide a valid clinical correlate, HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells were transfected with small interference RNA specific for IKKα or IKKβ and then subsequently treated with doxorubicin. Knockdown of IKKα severely impaired the ability of doxorubicin to initiate NF-κB DNA-binding activity. However, a decrease in either IKKα or IKKβ resulted in decreased phosphorylation of p65 in response to doxorubicin. The inhibition of doxorubicin-induced NF-κB activation by the knockdown of either catalytic subunit resulted in increased cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and increased apoptosis when compared with doxorubicin alone. The results of this study validate current approaches aimed at NF-κB inhibition to improve clinical therapies. Moreover, we show that IKKα plays a critical role in NF-κB-mediated chemoresistance in response to doxorubicin and may serve as a potential target in combinational strategies to improve chemotherapeutic response. [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(7):1827–35]
Is there an optimal weighting for linear inverse problems?∗

This paper considers linear equations r̂ = Kφ+U in functional spaces where K and the variance of U , Σ are given. The function φ is estimated by minimizing a Tikhonov functional ‖Ar̂−AKφ‖ +α‖Lφ‖ where α is a regularization parameter and A and L are two chosen operators. We analyse the optimal mean integrated square error, minα E‖φ̂α − φ‖ in order to determine the optimal choice of A (and L). Contrary to the finite dimensional case A = Σ−1/2 is not optimal and the best choice depends on the regularity of φ and the degree of ill-posedness of Σ.
Segment-Forest for Segmentation

In this paper, we present a novel generalized Segment-Forest Model (SFM) to segment an object as well as label all the object's semantic parts simultaneously. Segment-Forest is composed by various generated segment trees that act directly on super pixels. Unlike recent works, SFM does not need the prior information like skeleton to capture the core structure of an object, but actively learns the structure from semantic parts during the learning stage. The prediction is an Inference-On-Tree-Voting-On-Forest process, which precludes the expensive computation of the multi-objective optimization. Both training and inference in SFM are extremely efficient, especially compared with traditional multi-objective optimization approaches using in segmentation. We demonstrate superior performance particularly in object articulation, non-rigid deformation on two standard datasets over current state-of-the-art methods. Through further occlusion experiments, we show that SFM can work robustly in the real world.
Galectin 3 induces a distinctive pattern of cytokine and chemokine production in rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts via selective signaling pathways.

OBJECTIVE High expression of galectin 3 at sites of joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) suggests that galectin 3 plays a role in RA pathogenesis. Previous studies have demonstrated the effects of galectins on immune cells, such as lymphocytes and macrophages. This study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that galectin 3 induces proinflammatory effects in RA by modulating the pattern of cytokine and chemokine production in synovial fibroblasts. METHODS Matched samples of RA synovial and skin fibroblasts were pretreated with galectin 3 or tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), and the levels of a panel of cytokines, chemokines, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and multiplex assays. Specific inhibitors were used to dissect signaling pathways, which were confirmed by Western blotting and NF-kappaB activation assay. RESULTS Galectin 3 induced secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, CXCL8, and MMP-3 in both synovial and skin fibroblasts. By contrast, galectin 3-induced secretion of TNFalpha, CCL2, CCL3, and CCL5 was significantly greater in synovial fibroblasts than in skin fibroblasts. TNFalpha blockade ruled out autocrine TNFalpha-stimulated induction of chemokines. The MAPKs p38, JNK, and ERK were necessary for IL-6 production, but phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) was required for selective CCL5 induction. NF-kappaB activation was required for production of both IL-6 and CCL5. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that galectin 3 promotes proinflammatory cytokine secretion by tissue fibroblasts. However, galectin 3 induces the production of mononuclear cell-recruiting chemokines uniquely from synovial fibroblasts, but not matched skin fibroblasts, via a PI 3-kinase signaling pathway. These data provide further evidence of the role of synovial fibroblasts in regulating the pattern and persistence of the inflammatory infiltrate in RA and suggest a new and important functional consequence of the observed high expression of galectin 3 in the rheumatoid synovium.
Familial brain tumours—genetics or environment? A nationwide cohort study of cancer risk in spouses and first‐degree relatives of brain tumour patients

Our study investigated whether the familial aggregation of glioma is due to environmental or genetic effects and it investigated and compared the risk to spouses and first‐degree relatives (FDR) of patients with primary brain tumours (PBT) for developing both PBT and the risk for other types of cancer. All PBT patients identified in Sweden from 1958–97 in The Swedish Cancer Registry (SCR) were linked to the nationwide Swedish Family Database, including persons in Sweden born from 1932–97. The cohorts of spouses and FDR were linked to the SCR to identify observed cases of PBT and other cancer. Standardised incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated using the incidence rates from SCR as the reference. We found that there were no increased risks for any specific type of PBT in the cohort of spouses. In the FDR cohort, generally the risk for a PBT was significantly increased by 2 to 3 times for the same histopathology as the probands. Spouses of PBT patients had an increased risk of skin cancer. We conclude that FDR, not spouses, have a significantly increased risk, which indicates a genetic origin of the familial aggregation of brain tumours. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Factor Decomposition and Periodic Fluctuations of Carbon Emission in China

Adopting a two-stage LMDI model and 1990 to 2005 time series data of China,we divide the factors that influence the carbon dioxide emission coming from the energy consumption into four aspects,production scale,energy structure,carbon emission intensity,and energy intensity. Then we add production structure effect to the model and decompose the driving factor —energy intensity,which has a pivotal effect to reduce the carbon emission. According to the scale of production and the efficiency of energy using,which plays a key role to increase or reduce the carbon emission,we define the following four economic growth modes,i.e. the "high growth with high efficiency","low growth with low efficiency","low growth with high efficiency" ,and "high growth with low efficiency". Based on the result above,we analyze the periodic fluctuating characters of carbon emission in China. The result shows the difference of economic growth mode in the four stages has been the root cause to the fluctuation of carbon emission from the 1990s; especially,the "high input,high emission and low efficiency" economic growth mode between 2000 to 2004 has resulted in the rapid growth of the carbon emission. Thus we suggest that China should change the its economic growth mode to effectively control and reduce the carbon dioxide emission.
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Comparison of Susceptibility Testing Methods and Analysis of mecA-Positive Susceptible Strains

ABSTRACT Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is responsible for an increasing number of serious nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Phenotypic heterogeneous drug resistance (heteroresistance) to antistaphylococcal beta-lactams affects the results of susceptibility testing. The present study compared the MRSA-Screen latex agglutination test (Denka Seiken Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) for detection of PBP 2a with agar dilution, the VITEK-1 and VITEK-2 systems (bioMérieux, St. Louis, Mo.), and the oxacillin agar screen test for detection of MRSA, with PCR for themecA gene used as the “gold standard” assay. Analysis of 107 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates and 203 MRSA isolates revealed that the MRSA-Screen latex agglutination test is superior to any single phenotype-based susceptibility testing method, with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 99.1%. Only one isolate that lacked mecAwas weakly positive by the MRSA-Screen latex agglutination test. This isolate was phenotypically susceptible to oxacillin and did not contain the mecA gene by Southern blot hybridization. The oxacillin agar screen test, the VITEK-1 system, the VITEK-2 system, and agar dilution showed sensitivities of 99.0, 99.0, 99.5, and 99%, respectively, and specificities of 98.1, 100, 97.2, and 100%, respectively. The differences in sensitivity or specificity were not statistically significant. Oxacillin bactericidal assays showed thatmecA- and PBP 2a-positive S. aureusisolates that are susceptible to antistaphylococcal beta-lactams by conventional methods are functionally resistant to oxacillin. We conclude that the accuracy of the MRSA-Screen latex agglutination method for detection of PBP 2a approaches the accuracy of PCR and is more accurate than any susceptibility testing method used alone for the detection of MRSA.
Organizational Culture and Job Satisfaction : A Study Among Academicians at Al-Azhar University-Gaza

The culture of organization has been central in business management research over the last few decades (Chow, 2001). Organizational culture can have an impact and potential impact on organization and individual, such as the commitment of faith, and loyalty to an organization which include turnover and satisfaction. There are numerous studies that had been conducted to examine the relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction of employees in many countries. However, there is a very small number of literature that contribute to the study of culture in the context of higher education institution, particularly on how organizational culture affected job satisfaction. This study presents an attempt to investigate the level of organizational culture on job satisfaction among academicians at Al-Azhar University-Gaza in Palestine. In addition, this study also examined the relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction. As for organizational culture, there are five dimensions which are: Supportiveness, Emphasis on rewards, Innovation, Performance Oriented and Stability & Communication. A total of 203 academicians participated in the study. Data were collected through questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 20 items organizational culture and 25 items on job satisfaction. On the whole, the results of the study suggest that there exist a significant relationship between the five dimensions of organizational culture and job satisfaction