ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Activation of intrinsic cell death pathway Previous studies had alluded to the fact that Staurosporine and its derivative (7-hydroxystaurosporine) activate the intrinsic cell death pathway. Known anticancer agents trigger apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway in cancer cells. In an experiment carried out to elucidate the specific signaling pathways activated by staurosporine, it was found that staurosporine activates apoptosis via two pathways. First, it triggers apoptosis via the classical mitochondrial pathway in which activation requires the formation of an apoptosome. Second, it triggers apoptosis via a new pathway that is not dependent on the formation of an apoptosome. Known pathways were blocked before studying the new pathway. This was a way of eliminating confounding factors. Immunoblotting for Apaf-1 and caspase-9 was then carried out. The data showed that staurosporine and 7-hydroxystaurosporine can elicit programmed cell death through a new pathway. The pathway does not depend on the known death receptor pathways. Staurosporine and its derivative can trigger the mitochondrial pathway directly. In addition, staurosporine has a rapid onset of action. It elicits apoptosis in one to two hours. Other anticancer agents elicit apoptosis after approximately eight hours. The results further indicate that staurosporine and 7-hydroxystaurosporine-induced apoptosis is not prevented by anti-apoptotic proteins. Anti-apoptotic proteins such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL block other intrinsic apoptotic pathways. It is thought that anti-apoptotic proteins do not inhibit the extrinsic death pathway. However, caspace-9 deficient cell lines (Jurkat T lymphoma cells, MCF7 breast cancer cells, and SH-EP neuroblastoma cells) were resistant to staurosporine-triggered apoptosis. This implies that staurosporine-induced apoptosis requires activation of caspace-9. However, results indicate that staurosporine does not achieve its effect through inhibition of the known and putative caspce-9 kinases (Akt,ERK1/2,PKC+, PKA, CDK1/cyclin B1, CK2, cAbl, DYRK , ATM, CK1, PKC, GSK3, and DNA-PK). Therefore, it is evident that staurosporine achieves its effect by inhibiting other kinases that are yet to be described. In conclusion, it is evident that staurosporine induces mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis via two pathways. First, it induces apoptosis via the cytochrome c/Apaf-1 pathway, which is sensitive to anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. Second, it triggers cell death via an intrinsic pathway, which is resistant to anti-apoptotic agent Bcl-2 and free from Apaf-1. Microparticles (MPs) release in disease state by cells exposed to staurosporine Microparticles may be defined as membrane vesicles originating from dying and activated cells. These particles have demonstrated a great range of physiologic properties. The particles are beginning to attract attention due to these properties. This study was designed to investigate microparticle release induced by staurosporine and 7-hydroxystaurosprine. This finding had been reported by earlier studies. The current study found that staurosporine and its analogue induce micr
Introduction Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Holdings is one of the largest international banking and finance corporations. It was able to achieve financial success through a competent business strategy and calculated investments. This analytical report seeks to investigate HSBC’s history as a company and determine the critical strategies and decisions that enabled it to achieve a trajectory of financial growth and success. The report will explore the company from its inception, but will primarily focus on modern-day events that saw an exponential expansion of assets and services. HSBC Holdings is unique in its continuous innovation as well as its ability to adapt corporate values and strategy to the dynamic climate of financial markets. Report Summary Starting out as a regional East Asian banking corporation, HSBC Holdings was able to expand its global presence through a series of strategic acquisitions. The corporation slowly increased its market presence by purchasing smaller banking corporations around the world. It has utilized a clientele-driven approach and its global presence to establish itself in the areas of trade finance and retail-banking operations. Recently, the corporation has faced a crisis of leadership as it has readjusted its strategy, and unsuccessfully attempted to enter new sectors such as investment banking. However, HSBC remains a well-respected and highly successful enterprise. In analyzing the trajectory of HSBC Holdings’ development and growth, it is evident that competent business decision-making and long-term investment strategy has allowed the corporation to succeed. Throughout its history and in the modern-day, HSBC has prospered due to unceasing innovation and its accountability to clients, which direct the company strategy to recognize and address any potential shortcomings at the highest corporate levels. This report seeks to analyze HSBC Holdings’ corporate history to determine the applicable business strategies and strengths that aided in achieving its financial success. Unlike most major banking corporations, HSBC’s primary focus is on client-oriented services, including retail and commercial banking, global banking, and private banking, which together make up the majority of the company’s profits. It has focused on developing its network based on international trade and investment on local scales. It seeks growth opportunities by ensuring stability and building capital through a low-risk and diversified investment and banking model. HSBC achieved its success in finance through the following strategies:   * Cultural competency that helps to establish a global presence while continuously evaluating the financial risk of its presence in new markets.   * Accountability for business decisions and attempts to improve the business.   * A financial strategy that focuses on client-based profitability and stability in its
The Taliban militants who fought the US and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were persuaded by an alternate set of factors than the group of the young madrassa learners that at first were part of the association during the mid-1990s. At that point, the Taliban was basically inspired by the longing to build up a perfect Islamic state administered by the sharia law. Pakistan has given an excellent sponsorship to Afghanistan in the midst of the Soviet invasion. It offered refuge to more than three million Afghan pariahs and still plays host to very nearly two million of them. Pakistan was allowed to sit alone to manage the issues connected with the outcomes of the war. Taking after the 9/11 assaults, the Americans announced a war against Afghanistan. But the outcome of the war destroyed much of the resources and the infrastructure that was in place. It is, therefore, true to conjecture that the insurgency in Afghanistan was as a result of the inefficiency and the inability of the government to counter and resolve the challenges faced by the country and the citizens. Introduction Afghanistan borders Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and China. The country is located in the southern part of Asia. The proximity of its location has led to many battles in the past due to the interest developed by many rulers in the past, such as Alexander the Great. These battles have dented the history of the country. Afghanistan is a country rich in culture and heritage, thus, there are several ethnic communities and the top most spoken dialects are Dari and Pashto. The citizens are tied up to their religion, as the religion is the basis of their culture and identity. The widely practiced religion in the area is Islam. The religion has so many branches and the most of the Muslims in Afghanistan are of the Sunni decent and, therefore, practice the Sunni tradition. The Islamic religion acts as the unifying force. It united the Afghans to resist the British forces in the 19th century and the Soviet forces in the 20th century (Ahady 2005). Afghanistan is further segregated to various social, cultural and ethnic divisions. The dominant ethnic groups are the Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks (Arney 2006). The Pashtuns speak the Pashto dialect. The Tajiks speak the Dari dialect. The Hazaras and the Uzbeks speak the Shiites and the Uzbek dialects respectively. Until now, the Pashtuns are regarded to be the biggest minority ethnic group. The Tajiks, the Hazaras, and the Uzbeks follow in that order. This means that out of the four biggest tribes, none of them is considered to be the majority. This has led to several scholars terming Afghanistan as a country of minorities (Ahady 2005). The conflicts in the country have gone on and on for at least 25 years. These conflicts have since triggered tribal animosities among the ethnic communities. But the overall war in the country did not happen as a result of the ethnic polarization in the country. Nonetheless, it cannot be ignored that the ethnic divisions have played a role in catalyzing the conflicts. Other scholars attribute the insurgency in Afghanistan to have been
The life of women in colonial Australia has been explored in various literary works. This paper is aimed at examining two short stories written by Murray Bail and Henry Lawson. Their short stories have the same title, namely, The Drover’s Wife. These authors look at the experiences of bush-women who have to live in an environment that is new and sometimes hostile to them. Both writers show that it is extremely difficult for these women to get used to the role of drover’s wife or a person who has to struggle against heavy odds in order to support the family. Nevertheless, there is a significant difference that should not be overlooked. In particular, Henry Lawson offers an idealistic representation of the drover’s wife by focusing on her strength, fortitude, and stoicism. In contrast, Murray Bail pays more attention to the independence of the main character. This distinction can be explained by several reasons. First of all, Murray Bail attempts to show that the role of bush-women was not always appreciated by mean. This is why his narrative is written from the perceptive of a husband. First of all, both stories suggest that these women struggle to adjust to new conditions. For instance, Henry Lawson notes that in the past the main character held many aspirations and hopes about her marriage and family. Yet, she gradually lost them. Now she can only take pleasure “in the fashion-plates” (Lawson 745). This person understands that she has to dedicate all her efforts only to the needs of her husband and children. Similarly, Murray Bail also shows that the protagonist of his short story has to do the work that she is not quite ready for. For instance, she has to chop wood (Bail, 791). This is one of the similarities that can be identified. Nevertheless, there are important distinctions that one should consider. In particular, the main character of Henry Lawson’s short story is willing to make sacrifices for the needs of her husband. She can recognize his weaknesses but she does want to criticize him. In contrast, Murray Bail describes a person who understands that she is undervalued by her husband. Moreover, she decides to leave him. In turn, he is profoundly astonished by her decision. Murray Bail refers to the famous painting The Drover’s Wife by Russell Drysdale (Bail 788). Its central figure is a woman who stands in the desert while her husband is only a distant spot. The narrator does not understand why the painter chooses to depict this family in such a way. He only expects his wife to face hardships without any comment. Overall, Murray Bail wants to demonstrate that the role of women has often been underestimated in Australian culture. He tells the narrative from the perspective of a husband who does not even understand that she makes great sacrifices for him. He believes that it is he who plays the most prominent role in the family. This is one of the main issues that can
Introduction Some economists have propounded that vertically integrated firms “can try to replicate the market incentives but many do encounter problems associated with agency costs” (Dietrich & Krafft 2012, p. 23). In other words, companies that decide to take charge of their products, as well as the products’ components, cannot market as effectively as those that allow other agencies to control their products’ components. A study through most companies however reveals that vertically integrated companies can replicate market incentives without restriction by agency cost. A good example is technological companies such as Apple. The company has embraced a vertically integrated model with a high degree of success. Apple manufactures and designs hardware and software components of its products without allowing any other company to control any of its components. Pundits have argued that this is the secret to the company’s success over years. This paper will delve into the merits and demerits of vertically integrated models and suggest how they can overcome challenges emanating from agency costs. Salient characteristics of Transaction Cost Economics will be extrapolated vis-à-vis the vertical model. Main body Elsner and Hanappi (2008 p. 43) aver that vertical integration “dictates that one company controls the end products as well as its components.” Essentially, the model excludes outsourcing or delegating of products’ components. This means that if one manufactures a mobile phone, he/she must also manufacture all the components that go with the mobile phone. The model stifles specialization and instead encourages a scenario where a company manufactures all components of a product. This inevitably comes with challenges. For instance, the manufacture of complex products requires a set of different skills and competencies. There is also a chain of processes that lead to the manufacture of the particular product. The supply chain process for example has the identification of raw materials, procurement, processing, and manufacturing of the product. It takes a lot of time for a company to build such a capacity. This is because of the intensive labor and skills required. Such a robust undertaking has dissuaded companies from adopting vertical models. Transaction Cost Economies have some salient features that distinguish them from othe
Executive Summary The country of Syria “is an Asian country located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan and Palestine to the south, the Mediterranean Sea and Lebanon to the west (Benn 2010 p. 138). Some people like to refer to it as the Euphrates, famous from industrialization and civilization of Mesopotamia. Syria is in the headlines currently for all the wrong reasons one may say. These reasons are based on the riots to demonstrate about the politics of the country and the struggle for ‘democracy’. Devlin indicates that, “The People and Their Culture Syria is a Muslim society, that is to say, six out of seven Syrians identify themselves as Muslims” (1983 p. 25). And the “Syrians still resent the loss of so many lands and peoples formerly associated with their country. Syria’s people are mostly Arabs, and the major religion is Islam, although there are other ethnic and religious minorities” (Morrison and Woog, 2008 p. 16). Once a revolution is experienced in a state, there may be many reasons for that to happen. One may be able to emancipate people from political tyranny or poor state of the country. Whichever the reasons are, this paper examines why Syria is classified as a developing country. The World Bank definition of developing countries includes all low income and middle income countries (except economies with a population of less than 30000), including countries in transition (Ross and Harmsen, 2001 p.4). The question then should be, is Syria a developing economy country or is it developed? The paper tries to examine the situation in the country focusing mainly on the status of its economy and why the country is a developing country. Statement of the Problem In the recent past, Syria has hit the headlines because of its security situation. The security situation became worse because of the uprising popularly known as the Arab uprising which hit countries like Libya, Morocco, Egypt and now Syria which are Arab countries. It is rare for the masses to rise against their governments in protest. Uprising usually comes in when people realise they are being oppressed or have been made political slaves of a given family lineage. The situation in the Arab countries has been associated with long serving heads of state. With the world economy dwindling and food prices escalating, the masses have experienced inflation in their houses. Generally, people are facing extreme conditions and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening which may make people to revolt. Considering the situation in Syria, what would be the state of the economy of Syria? Developing, underdeveloped and developed countries are the terms used to explain the economic status of a country. The characteristics which are common to these countries are specified by the definition itself.
Introduction All organizations face crisis of different natures and scales at one time or another and the auto manufacturing industry is no exception to this. Devlin (2006, p.48) asserts that it is the premise of an organization’s management and the Public Relation (PR) offices to ensure that in the event of a crisis, the organization recovers gracefully and in a timely manner. The objective of crisis management is to protect the stability of the organization by ensuring that stakeholder interests are protected and the organization’s losses are mitigated. Public relations forms an integral part of any crisis management efforts especially when the news media is involved. In the course of the previous year, a crisis has hit the car manufacturing giant, Toyota forcing it to recall hundred of thousands of some of its bestselling models all over the globe. The negative publicity that this matter has received from main stream media has been immense. This has resulted in damage to the company being significant as can be illustrated by the company’s stock prices taking a plunge as vehicle sales plummet. In light of these daunting realities for Toyota, this paper shall argue that effective PR and timely crisis management can be used to achieve a company’s marketing objectives even in the face of a global crisis. The paper shall perform a brief analysis of Toyota’s handling of the crisis so as to highlight if proper crisis management policies were employed. The role of the media in this situation will also be reviewed and advice offered as t
This book has described the lives of both Oglala Indian by name Crazy Horse and the American soldier by name Custer. The major themes of the book are the love and the war. The two had some conflicting ideas. The author of the book is describing the two warriors as concentrating on the aspects of lives that makes one successful. The major subject of the book is to demonstrate the wounds of the impacts of war, and the cultural differences of Americans and Indians. The lives of the two warriors and their achievement are in this book until their deaths, covering the most important circumstances of their lives . Ambrose the author of the book shows clearly the development of the lives of the two warriors, whereby they would interact and work together for a while, but in the next minute differences of their opinions arose . These two warriors are very crucial to the history and culture of American people. Throughout the book, some important steps taken by these two warriors are discussed, as well as the various wars that were organized by both. Some of the wars especially the ones in 1866 and 1867 organized by Crazy Horse were very productive, as their main objective was to fight for the rights of his people and to ensure justice is applied. Ambrose the author makes the book as interesting as possible as the information provided is well researched . The author is very fair when describing the two warriors as he has balanced his analysis very well. Crazy Ho
Renaissance, also known as “Rebirth”, is considered as the start of modern history during the 14 th century. The Renaissance was first experienced in Italy and then adopted by the rest of Europe. After the Renaissance ended in 1600, the Baroque period was experienced from 1600 to 1800. Both periods employed polyphony and used same instruments in compositions. The differences experienced in the Renaissance period were still common in the Baroque period but in regards to factors such as, texture, medium, and genres (LiveReal, 2005). This paper focuses on the various techniques of art that were portrayed by these eras. Baroque period was highly influenced by the Roman Catholic Church. The church was against secular art hence it was in support of art that was based on religion when many artists wanted to present art of reality by exhibiting events as they were instead of sticking to the elements of art and design. The major characteristics of baroque art included dynamic mobility in art as well as clear emotion. This means that the theme of art was very clear for everyone to understand the meaning behind any given work. The Catholic Church preferred to use this art to draw more people to the church. Perhaps, the church knew that people are most likely to visit a place where they are entertained. The Catholic Church intended to use baroque to fight the activists who led to the split the Roman Catholic Church but it was not easy because the reformers also incorporated baroque art when they felt it was necessary. In this era artists did not rely so much on the elements of design while adding features such as shadows and contrasts in their images. Before this period, contrast and shadowing was artificial because it was generated by blending various colors. In baroque era, the artists worked on their art in open places such as gardens where the sunlight struck the surfaces of their works and thus the shadows that they portrayed were real as opposed to previous eras where artists worked indoors and thus the aspects of art were based on assumptions. The paintings that were done in baroque presented a lot of mobility in them because the subjects were accorded some gestures, unlike in renaissance where the images were stiff. The era of baroque was an outcome of the struggle of the artists who denied a chance to exhibit their talents in the renaissance period. In fact baroque was started by the artists whose work was rejected at the exhibitions of art (Fitzpatrick, 2005). The rebels who had split from the Roman Catholic Church did not apply religious themes in their works unlike their counterparts who supported the use of religious themes in art. Baroque was not only used in painting alone in other areas as well. For instance, baroque was employed