bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
INTEREST RATE REGIME AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGERIAN CAPITAL MARKET
Authors: Jeroh Edirin , Ekwueme C. M.
Published: January 2018

This study x-ray’s the interest rates regime in Nigeria as it affects the performance of the Nigerian Capital Market. In order to achieve this objective, relevant data for a period of 33 years spanning from 1981 – 2013 were obtained from the Factbook of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, CBN Statistical Bulletin as well as the annual accounts of quoted firms for the relevant years. The data obtained were analysed with the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique. The result from our analysis reveal among others that changes in interest rate regimes have majorly influenced the level of the performance of the Nigerian Capital Market. Based on the above, we recommend that capital market regulators and other regulatory agencies should keep an eye on movements in interest rates and the Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) (now MPR) and watch their trend. We also recommend that efforts must be put in place to establish a policy review and reassessment mechanism that would help in assessing the impact of selected policy measures on the economy so that policy makers would know the effectiveness and efficiency of designed policies and be guided in the policy review and development process in the country.
GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES: EVOLUTION AND PERSPECTIVES
Authors: Tudose Mihaela Brindusa , Rusu Valentina Diana
Published: January 2018

Our paper is analyzing the theoretical and empirical research in the field of competitiveness and it presents the methodology of determining the global competitiveness index. Also, our paper is analyzing the evolution of the global competitiveness index in the Member States of the European Union, in the last years. The results obtained show that more than half of European Union Member States recorded an increase in the global competitiveness index on the account of the basic influence factors. With the exception of six countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, France, Italy, Malta), the European Union countries show a favorable influence of the efficiency on the index of global competitiveness. The highest contribution of the efficiency on the increase of global competitiveness is recorded in Portugal, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria; on the opposite side is Malta, Cyprus and Germany. Regarding the influence of innovation, only three countries have recorded a negative impact of the innovation on the global competitiveness index: Finland, Spain and Austria. On the other hand Romania, Cyprus and Portugal show the highest favorable effect of innovation on the competitiveness.
POLITICAL COMMUNICATION DURING THE 2014 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: ONLINE MEDIA COVERAGE
Authors: Cîrtiţă-Buzoianu Cristina
Published: January 2018

The election campaign has lately become a real challenge where all the political actors display their skills, the communication ones, but also those related to the electoral marketing and public relations which play a vital role in creating the image of a particular candidate. The interest that the public manifest towards the presidential debates, as well as towards all the means of political communication used by the actors involved represents a reference point in the construction of an election campaign. Our paper aims to achieve a quantitative analysis of the communicational messages sent during the 2014 presidential campaign in the online media. In this respect, we are going to conduct a media monitoring on two central newspapers, namely “Evenimentul Zilei” (“Daily Event”) and “Jurnalul Național” (“National Journal”), to track the online media visibility of the political communication starting from several indicators predefined in order to measure the efficiency of the political communication. Thus, our approach considers the influence of political communication in the election campaign as it appears in the online press in Romania.
SOCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DENTAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOR
Authors: Gârdan Iuliana Petronela , Gârdan Daniel Adrian , Epuran Gheorghe
Published: January 2018

In case of dental care consumption, a very special influence will have the social factors. This influence, from the level of consumers’ behavior can be analyzed on two distinct levels – that of normatives impose by the social organization particular for the community that the individual live and that of the influences of the social groups that individual are interacting with. Dental healthcare services consumption is conditioned at the level of consumption motivations by complex needs which are not confined only to the physiological needs of removing pain caused by a certain dental condition, but are going towards the need of self-image improvement, increasing the appreciation offered by the others group members, the congruence with other consumers decisions within the group (family members, friends, colleagues etc). It is important to note in this context the fact that the influence exerted by consumers exogenous factors (external influences in which we can integrate those from the social groups also) will be combined with the one exerted by endogenous factors (personality, learning process, perceptions, attitudes, motivations etc), representing a continuum that shape consumers and allows in the same time the society shaping by them. The present article proposes a research conducted on dental healthcare services consumers. Results revealed the importance that a series of variables like the importance given to image in the workplace, family, friends and colleagues perception towards dental aesthetic, social class has in the context of consumer behavior. It is also noted that the influence of variables is mediated by the importance given to self-image, dental healthcare services consumption being determined by complex needs, consumption motivations being physiological – specific to some medical conditions and psychological – aesthetic or induced by the pressure corresponding to the need to comply with social norms.
THE INFLUENCE OF RETAIL STORE IMAGE AND INDIVIDUAL FACTORS ON CONSUMER BUYING DECISIONS
Authors: Olariu Ioana
Published: January 2018

In this article is examined the relationship between store image, individual factors and consumer purchase behavior. First link is made between consumer attitudes and his buying decisions. Second, the relationship between store image and consumer purchase behavior is mediated by attributes of retailer that include merchandising, store atmosphere, in-store service, accessibility, reputation, promotion, facilities and post-transaction service. This article is a theoretical approach on what is known about how people decide whether or not to buy something and then how they decide which item or items to buy and what retailer is the best choice. In the process of doing this, we will discover that the process of making a buying decision is not nearly as simply as it may seem. A good understanding about how consumers make buying decisions is very important in developing effective marketing plans. Marketers can change the design of the store interior, aisle layout, carpet and wall textures, scents, colors, shapes, and sounds experienced by the customers. Thus store image is a result of many variables which can be manipulated by the retailer to influence consumer mood and, subsequently, the buyer's behavior.
THE ACCOUNTING REFLECTION OF MERGER OPERATIONS – THE GLOBAL EVALUATION METHOD
Authors: Deju Mihai
Published: January 2018

Depending on the manner in which the evaluation of companies involved in merger operations is carried out, two methods are employed for the accounting reflection of merger operations: the net asset method and the global evaluation method. This article presents the characteristics of using the global evaluation method for the accounting reflection of merger operations.
LINKING EXPERIENTIAL VALUE TO LOYALTY IN SMARTPHONE INDUSTRY
Authors: Wulandari Nuri , Kartika Sari Rina
Published: January 2018

The smartphone industry has grown tremendously in the past years across the world, especially in Asia. The competition between smartphone brand players has been intense and involving sophisticated marketing techniques. Despite of the widespread practice of experiential marketing to market smartphones, little research has been undertaken to investigate whether this practice generate experiential value in the perception of smartphone customers. If the value is evident, the question remains whether it leads to satisfaction and loyalty of smartphone brand. This study tries to investigate whether the practice of experiential marketing drives experiential value, and whether experiential value has a direct effect to loyalty or indirectly through satisfaction. The methodology involved a survey investigating 255 responses from smartphone device user in Indonesian market. The result provides useful findings for marketers as well as supporting the direct and indirect relationship between experiential value and loyalty. The suggestion highlight feel experience as one of the driver factors of experience. Limitation and future research suggestions are explained.
ROMANIAN BRANDS AWARENESS AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE. THE CASE OF COMMON FOOD PRODUCTS
Authors: Timiras Laura Catalina
Published: January 2018

Awareness is a prerequisite in the development of successful brands; in this paper are highlighted, for certain categories of common food products, brands enjoying the highest spontaneous awareness among young people. On the basis of this work are some of the results of a direct research conducted on a sample of 100 students, aged between 18 and 30 years. Common foods are intended for current consumption, serving to meet the dietary needs of consumers. Thus, we studied certain categories of food products with characteristics which make them fall within the common products category: milk and dairy products, meat and cooked meat (except fish), fish and eggs, canned meat (including pate), canned vegetables, bakery, milling products, pasta, breakfast cereals, sugar, eggs, nuts and seeds, oil, margarine. The conducted research has an exploratory character.
FESTIVE FOOD BRANDS AWARENESS AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE ON ROMANIAN MARKET
Authors: Timiras Laura Catalina
Published: January 2018

In this paper are presented some of the results obtained through an exploratory research carried out in the month of April 2016 on a sample of 100 students from the Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, referring to awareness of festive food brands on the Romanian market. Festive products have special sensory properties designed to especially satisfy gastronomic indulgence and not nutritional needs of individuals. Thus, we studied a number of categories covering mainly food products for the pleasure of eating, namely: confectionery, coffee, tea, chips and snacks, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. Thus there are shown brands that enjoy the highest spontaneous awareness in the investigated sample, young people undergoing investigation being asked to indicate the top 3 brands that come to mind for various product categories investigated. The study shows both the brands which enjoy the highest top of mind awareness and those brands which were nominated by most respondents among the top three of which they remember.
THE ALGERIAN ECONOMY GOVERNED BY BLACK CORRUPTION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY FROM 2002 TO 2015
Authors: Midoun Sissani
Published: January 2018

The main objective of this paper is to highlight the concept of corruption and analyses our cumulative knowledge about corruption’s effects on the economic growth in Algeria during the period 2002–2015. This article emphasizes the major source of corruption and how the quality of institutions and government policies could mitigate the risk of corruption or increase it. The findings also show the great role of free media in most developing countries which created a new tendency to talk about the effects of corruption especially in recent years. Using a multiple regression model, we find that a 1% decrease in the corruption index CPI level increases the GDP growth rate by approximately 2,005%. The analysis also revealed that there is a negative relationship between the country rank and the economic growth. Finally, the results suggest that more economic freedom, social and political stability lead to less corruption.
FINANCING POLICY OF FIRMS IN THE CONTEXT OF CRISIS-INDUCED VULNERABILITIES
Authors: Tudose Mihaela Brindusa , Rusu Valentina Diana
Published: January 2018

Our study analyses the changes in the financial structure of the firms in the context of the vulnerabilities induced by the financial crisis. The study show that there have been registered a reconfiguration of firms’ financial structure which has triggered an increase in their financial fragility and vulnerability to crises. The results obtained confirm that the effects of financing differ depending on the economic conditions in particular period (normal periods and crisis periods). In tranquil times solvency is more important for the firms than liquidity. After crisis, the firms became more cautious regarding liquidity, solvency and the prospect of securing long-term financial balance. These firms have abandoned the objective of maximizing the positive effects of debt financing adopting a more prudent financing.
UPDATES REGARDING AUDIT REPORTING
Authors: Botez Daniel
Published: January 2018

In 2009, the International Federation of Professional Accountants - IFAC initiated a process of reviewing reporting standards. The purpose of this process is to improve the auditor's way of communicating and to increase the relevance of the audit globally, meaning that the auditor's report is more informative by presenting more information about the entity and about the audit of the financial statements. Thus, reporting standards have been amended, a new standard has been published, and the impact of these changes on other standards used by the auditor has been reported. The most relevant aspects concern the introduction of new paragraphs in the auditor's report regarding key aspects of the audit and the assumption of business continuity. Also, the structure of the report has been modified.
RECENT EVOLUTION OF MARKET RESEARCH AND PUBLIC OPINION POLLING BUSINESS IN THE EU COUNTRIES
Authors: Timiras Laura Catalina
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the evolution of the market research and public opinion polling business in the EU countries in recent years (after 2010). Using the Turnover or gross premiums written indicator, it was found that the analyzed business experienced an upward trend over the period 2010-2015, but not for all EU countries, some of them experiencing decreasing of the indicator. At the same time, parallel with the increase of the Turnover or gross premiums written at the level of the EU, there was a slight decrease of the number of enterprises and number of persons employed in the market research and the public polling activity, a decrease which was more pronounced at the level of the old EU Member States. The paper also seeks to highlight the link between the macroeconomic outcomes and market size of market research and public opinion polling across EU countries, noting the existence of a direct and strong relationship between Gross domestic product and Turnover or gross premiums Written both at EU-28 level and by categories of old and new member states. The analysis was based on official statistical data provided by Eurostat.
A Study of Order Modification for Reactive Power Support by Wind Farm during Communication Failure
Authors: Jung Seungmin , Yoo Yeuntae , Kim Taehyung , Lee Jae-Hyeong , Yoon Minhan , Jang Gilsoo
Published: January 2018

Various control methods and applications have been introduced to power systems in order to alleviate the uncertainties of relying on renewable sources. This paper, focusing on a reactive power allocation process, discusses the development of a self-modification algorithm and its introduction to an online reference management system. The algorithm is designed to predict unexpected situations occurring in real-time operations, when, due to technical issues, the control system becomes unavailable. A test system has been formed to check the feasibility of the composed method. As the main purpose of the feasibility study is checking availability with a complex solution, case studies are designed to adapt a reactive power allocation method based on loss minimization. When unexpected systemic errors were induced, the proposed modification plan changed order automatically with maintaining previous objective function. The improved effects, caused by realistic responses, are classified according to EMTDC (Electro-Magnetic Transient Design and Control) analysis.
Controllable Micro-Particle Rotation and Transportation Using Sound Field Synthesis Technique
Authors: Deng Shuang , Jia Kun , Wu Eryong , Hu Xuxiao , Fan Zongwei , Yang Keji
Published: January 2018

Rotation and transportation of micro-particles using ultrasonically-driven devices shows promising applications in the fields of biological engineering, composite material manufacture, and micro-assembly. Current interest in mechanical effects of ultrasonic waves has been stimulated by the achievements in manipulations with phased array. Here, we propose a field synthesizing method using the fewest transducers to control the orientation of a single non-spherical micro-particle as well as its spatial location. A localized acoustic force potential well is established and rotated by using sound field synthesis technique. The resultant acoustic radiation torque on the trapped target determines its equilibrium angular position. A prototype device consisting of nine transducers with 2 MHz center frequency is designed and fabricated. Controllable rotation of a silica rod with 90 μm length and 15 μm diameter is then successfully achieved. There is a good agreement between the measured particle orientation and the theoretical prediction. Within the same device, spatial translation of the silica rod can also be realized conveniently. When compared with the existing acoustic rotation methods, the employed transducers of our method are strongly decreased, meanwhile, device functionality is improved.
Targeting FLT3 Mutations in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Authors: El Fakih Riad , Rasheed Walid , Hawsawi Yousef , Alsermani Maamoun , Hassanein Mona
Published: January 2018

The FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) pathway has an important role in cellular proliferation, survival, and differentiation. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with mutated FLT3 have a large disease burden at presentation and a dismal prognosis. A number of FLT3 inhibitors have been developed over the years. The first-generation inhibitors are largely non-specific, while the second-generation inhibitors are more specific and more potent. These inhibitors are used to treat patients with FLT3-mutated AML in virtually all disease settings including induction, consolidation, maintenance, relapse, and after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). In this article, we will review the use of FLT3 inhibitors in AML.
Microbial-Enhanced Heavy Oil Recovery under Laboratory Conditions by Bacillus firmus BG4 and Bacillus halodurans BG5 Isolated from Heavy Oil Fields
Authors: Shibulal Biji , Al-Bahry Saif , Al-Wahaibi Yahya , Elshafie Abdulkadir , Al-Bemani Ali , Joshi Sanket
Published: January 2018

Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) is one of the tertiary recovery methods. The high viscosity and low flow characteristics of heavy oil makes it difficult for the extraction from oil reservoirs. Many spore-forming bacteria were isolated from Oman oil fields, which can biotransform heavy crude oil by changing its viscosity by converting heavier components into lighter ones. Two of the isolates, Bacillus firmus BG4 and Bacillus halodurans BG5, which showed maximum growth in higher concentrations of heavy crude oil were selected for the study. Gas chromatography analysis of the heavy crude oil treated with the isolates for nine days showed 81.4% biotransformation for B. firmus and 81.9% for B. halodurans. In both cases, it was found that the aromatic components in the heavy crude oil were utilized by the isolates, converting them to aliphatic species. Core flooding experiments conducted at 50 °C, mimicking reservoir conditions to prove the efficiency of the isolates in MEOR, resulted in 10.4% and 7.7% for B. firmus and B. halodurans, respectively, after the nine-day shut-in period. These investigations demonstrated the potential of B. firmus BG4 and B. halodurans BG5 as an environmentally attractive approach for heavy oil recovery.
Analysis of Bending Waves in Phononic Crystal Beams with Defects
Authors: Guo Yongqiang , Li Longfei , Chuang Kuo-Chih
Published: January 2018

Existing investigations on imperfect phononic crystal beams mainly concern periodic multi-span beams carrying either one or two channel waves with random or deterministic disorder in span-length. This paper studies the two channel bending waves in phononic crystal beams consisting of many phases of materials with defects introduced as one structural segment having different cross-sectional dimensions or material parameters. The method of reverberation-ray matrix (MRRM) based on the Timoshenko beam theory, which can conduct high-frequency analysis, is extended for the theoretical analysis of dispersion and transmission of bending waves. The supercell technique and the Floquet–Bloch theorem are adopted for modeling the dispersion characteristics, and the whole finite structural model is used to calculate the transmission spectra. Experimental measurements and numerical calculations are provided to validate the displacement transmission obtained by the proposed MRRM, with the effect of damping on transmission spectra being concerned. The high-frequency calculation applicability of the proposed MRRM is also confirmed by comparing the present results with the corresponding ones either using the transfer matrix method (TMM) or MRRM based on Euler—Bernoulli beam theory. The influences of defect size, defect form, and unit-cell number on the transmission spectra and the band structures are discussed. The drawn conclusions may be useful for designing or evaluating the defected phononic crystal beams in bending wave control. In addition, our conclusions are especially potential for identifying the defect location through bending wave signals.
An Integrated Start-Up Method for Pumped Storage Units Based on a Novel Artificial Sheep Algorithm
Authors: Wang Zanbin , Li Chaoshun , Lai Xinjie , Zhang Nan , Xu Yanhe , Hou Jinjiao
Published: January 2018

Pumped storage units (PSUs) are an important storage tool for power systems containing large-scale renewable energy, and the merit of rapid start-up enable PSUs to modulate and stabilize the power system. In this paper, PSU start-up strategies have been studied and a new integrated start-up method has been proposed for the purpose of achieving swift and smooth start-up. A two-phase closed-loop startup strategy, composed of switching Proportion Integration (PI) and Proportion Integration Differentiation (PID) controller is designed, and an integrated optimization scheme is proposed for a synchronous optimization of the parameters in the strategy. To enhance the optimization performance, a novel meta-heuristic called Artificial Sheep Algorithm (ASA) is proposed and applied to solve the optimization task after a sufficient verification with seven popular meta-heuristic algorithms and 13 typical benchmark functions. Simulation model has been built for a China’s PSU and comparative experiments are conducted to evaluate the proposed integrated method. Results show that the start-up performance could be significantly improved on both indices on overshoot and start-up, and up to 34%-time consumption has been reduced under different working condition. The significant improvements on start-up of PSU is interesting and meaning for further application on real unit.
Oxygen Isotope Thermometry of DaG 476 and SaU 008 Martian Meteorites: Implications for Their Origin
Authors: Ali Arshad , Jabeen Iffat , Nasir Sobhi , Banerjee Neil
Published: January 2018

We report the equilibration temperatures derived from the oxygen isotope thermometry of pyroxene-olivine pair from the Dar al Ghani (DaG) 476 (1200 +105/−90 °C) and Sayh al Uhaymir (SaU) 008 (1430 +220/−155 °C) meteorites showing a difference of over 200 °C at the face values. Regardless of the large associated uncertainties, contrasting geochemical and isotopic characteristics such as oxygen fugacities, hydrogen isotopic compositions (referred to as the D/H ratios), olivine abundances, presence of merrillite and/or apatite, and their chlorine contents between the two meteorites are observed in the literature. These opposing features lend support to the idea that the relative difference observed in the estimated temperatures is probably real and significant, thus providing insights into the Martian mantle magmatism. Based on our temperature estimation and previous magmatic models, we propose that SaU 008 could have been originated from a deeper depleted mantle source. However, DaG 476 may have been produced by the partial melting of the entrained pockets of the depleted mantle similar to that of the SaU 008’s source at a relatively shallower depth. Both meteorites erupted as a relatively thick lava flow or a shallow intrusion at approximately the same time followed by a launch initiated by a single meteoritic impact 1.1 million years (Ma) ago.
Workaholism as a Mediator between Work-Related Stressors and Health Outcomes
Authors: Andreassen Cecilie , Pallesen Ståle , Torsheim Torbjørn
Published: January 2018

It is currently unknown if unfavorable working conditions, reflected by the demand–control–support model and the effort–reward imbalance model, directly influence health or if the effects may be mediated by work-related attitudes and behaviors such as workaholism. In the present study, 988 employees (55.6% males, mean age 36.09, SD = 9.23) from a large consultant firm participated in a cross-sectional survey assessing work variables such as job demands, job control, social support, effort, reward, and overcommitment. Workaholism was also assessed together with eight different health-related outcomes. Although direct effects of the work stressors on health were found on most health outcomes, the work-related stressors were overall strongly related to workaholism (R2 = 0.522), which, in turn, was positively related to four (anxiety/insomnia, somatic symptoms, emotional exhaustion, and social dysfunction) of the eight outcome variables. Of a total of 40 relationships between work-related stressors and health outcomes, workaholism fully mediated three of these, and partly mediated 12. Overall, the study suggests that the effects of work-related stressors on health in many cases may be mediated by workaholism.
Screaming Body and Silent Healthcare Providers: A Case Study with a Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivor
Authors: Sigurdardottir Sigrun , Halldorsdottir Sigridur
Published: January 2018

Stressful early life experiences cause immune dysregulation across the lifespan. Despite the fact that studies have identified childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors as a particularly vulnerable group, only a few attempts have been made to study their lived-experience of the physical health consequences of CSA. The aim of this study was to explore a female CSA survivor’s lived-experience of the physical health consequences of CSA and how she experienced the reactions of healthcare providers. Seven interviews were conducted with this 40-year-old woman, Anne, using a phenomenological research approach. Anne was still a young child (two to three years old) when her father started to rape her. Since her childhood, she has experienced complex and widespread physical health consequences such as repeated vaginal and abdominal infections, widespread and chronic pain, sleeping problems, digestive problems, chronic back problems, fibromyalgia, musculoskeletal problems, repeated urinary tract infections, cervical dysplasia, inflammation of the Fallopian tubes, menorrhagia, endometrial hyperplasia, chlamydia, ovarian cysts, ectopic pregnancies, uterus problems, severe adhesions, and ovarian cancer. Anne disclosed her CSA experience to several healthcare providers but they were silent and failed to provide trauma-informed care. Anne’s situation, albeit unique, might reflect similar problems in other female CSA survivors.
Assessment of Sustainable Livelihood and Geographic Detection of Settlement Sites in Ethnically Contiguous Poverty-Stricken Areas in the Aba Prefecture, China
Authors: Liu Yanguo , Huang Chengmin , Wang Qing , Luan Junwei , Ding Mingtao
Published: January 2018

The Chinese government aims to deal with poverty by 2020 for people living in ethnic and rural regions, including mountainous ethnic regions with the highest concentration of poverty and chronic poverty. Based on a sustainable livelihood Framework, five capitals and 33 evaluation indices of livelihood were built, and 13 counties’ resources of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture were compared in order to calculate the degree of poverty. Topographic factors index of settlement sites (TFIS) were constructed by eight topographic factors, and diagnoses of the dominant factors of differentiation of 2699 settlements were calculated by using the geographical detector model to establish the poverty alleviation policies and models for different regions. The results showed that the livelihood capital evaluation indices were different (0.56–1.88), and natural capitals (mean value 1.56) had obvious advantages, but physical (mean value 0.56), financial (mean value 0.78), and human capital were lower (mean value 0.93), limiting the rate of transforming the ecological resources advantage into the economy. In the TFIS, the settlement points indicate topographic factors of natural breakpoint classification superposition, including elevation, slope, relief amplitude, surface incision, variance coefficient in elevation, surface roughness, distance to roads, and distance to rivers. These are within the 8–34 range, and their power determinant value to TFIS are 0.02, 0.70, 0.77, 0.76, 0.51, 0.66, 0.06, and 0.09. Livelihood capital evaluation indices and TFIS classification one (8–14) are positively correlated, and negative correlation (22–26 and 27–34) is at the 0.05 level. The county's poverty alleviation measures and development under different livelihood indices and TFIS indicate that the ecotourism industry has become the inevitable choice for promoting rapid and coordinated development of economy, society, and the environment in ethnic regions.
CPT-11-Induced Delayed Diarrhea Develops via Reduced Aquaporin-3 Expression in the Colon
Authors: Kon Risako , Tsubota Yuika , Minami Moe , Kato Saki , Matsunaga Yukari , Kimura Hiroshi , Murakami Yuta , Fujikawa Tetsuya , Sakurai Ryoya , Tomimoto Rei , Machida Yoshiaki , Ikarashi Nobutomo , Sugiyama Kiyoshi
Published: January 2018

While irinotecan (CPT-11) has a potent anti-cancer effect, it also causes serious diarrhea as an adverse reaction. In this study, we analyzed the pathogenic mechanism of CPT-11-induced delayed diarrhea by focusing on water channel aquaporin-3 (AQP3) in the colon. When rats received CPT-11, the expression level of AQP3 was reduced during severe diarrhea. It was found that the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines and the loss of crypt cells were increased in the colon when CPT-11 was administered. When celecoxib, an anti-inflammatory drug, was concomitantly administered, both the diarrhea and the reduced expression of AQP3 induced by CPT-11 were suppressed. The inflammation in the rat colon during diarrhea was caused via activated macrophage by CPT-11. These results showed that when CPT-11 is administered, the expression level of AQP3 in the colon is reduced, resulting in delayed diarrhea by preventing water transport from the intestinal tract. It was also suggested that the reduced expression of AQP3 might be due to the inflammation that occurs following the loss of colonic crypt cells and to the damage caused by the direct activation of macrophages by CPT-11. Therefore, it was considered that anti-inflammatory drugs that suppress the reduction of AQP3 expression could prevent CPT-11-induced delayed diarrhea.
Curcumin Analog DK1 Induces Apoptosis in Human Osteosarcoma Cells In Vitro through Mitochondria-Dependent Signaling Pathway
Authors: Aziz Muhammad , Hussin Yazmin , Che Rahim Nurul , Nordin Noraini , Mohamad Nurul , Yeap Swee , Yong Chean , Masarudin Mas , Cheah Yoke , Abu Nadiah , Akhtar Muhammad , Alitheen Noorjahan
Published: January 2018

Osteosarcoma is one of the primary malignant bone tumors that confer low survival rates for patients even with intensive regime treatments. Therefore, discovery of novel anti-osteosarcoma drugs derived from natural products that are not harmful to the normal cells remains crucial. Curcumin is one of the natural substances that have been extensively studied due to its anti-cancer properties and is pharmacologically safe considering its ubiquitous consumption for centuries. However, curcumin suffers from a poor circulating bioavailability, which has led to the development of a chemically synthesized curcuminoid analog, namely (Z)-3-hydroxy-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (DK1). In this study, the cytotoxic effects of the curcumin analog DK1 was investigated in both U-2OS and MG-63 osteosarcoma cell lines using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and cell death was microscopically examined via acridine orange/propidium iodide (AO/PI) double staining. Flow cytometer analysis including Annexin V/Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), cell cycle analysis and JC-1 were adapted to determine the mode of cell death. Subsequently in order to determine the mechanism of cell death, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and proteome profiling was carried out to measure the expression of several apoptotic-related genes and proteins. Results indicated that DK1 induced U-2 OS and MG-63 morphological changes and substantially reduced cell numbers through induction of apoptosis. Several apoptotic genes and proteins were steadily expressed after treatment with DK1; including caspase 3, caspase 9, and BAX, which indicated that apoptosis occurred through a mitochondria-dependent signaling pathway. In conclusion, DK1 could be considered as a potential candidate for an anti-osteosarcoma drug in the near future, contingent upon its ability to induce apoptosis in osteosarcoma cell lines.
Separation and Characterization of Antioxidative and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitory Peptide from Jellyfish Gonad Hydrolysate
Authors: Zhang Qin , Song Chengcheng , Zhao Jun , Shi Xiaomei , Sun Meiling , Liu Jing , Fu Yinghuan , Jin Wengang , Zhu Beiwei
Published: January 2018

The gonad of jellyfish (Rhopilema esculentum Kishinouye), containing high protein content with a rich amino acid composition, is suitable for the preparation of bioactive peptides. Jellyfish gonad was hydrolysed with neutral protease to obtain jellyfish gonad protein hydrolysate (JGPH), which was then purified sequentially by ultrafiltration, gel filtration chromatography, and RP-HPLC. The peptides were characterized with HPLC-MS/MS. One peptide with amino acid sequence Ser-Tyr (SY) was identified and synthesized, which showed good ACE inhibitory and antioxidant activity. The IC50 of this peptide on DPPH, ·OH, super oxygen anion scavenging activities, and ACE inhibitory activity are 84.623 μM, 1177.632 μM, 456.663 μM, and 1164.179 μM, respectively. The anchor in the binding site of SY and ACE C-domain (ACE-C) was obtained by molecular simulations. The results showed that the dipeptide purified from jellyfish gonad protein hydrolysates can be used as functional food material and is helpful in the study of antioxidant and inhibition of ACE.
Bacterial Production, Characterization and Protein Modeling of a Novel Monofuctional Isoform of FAD Synthase in Humans: An Emergency Protein?
Authors: Leone Piero , Galluccio Michele , Barbiroli Alberto , Eberini Ivano , Tolomeo Maria , Vrenna Flavia , Gianazza Elisabetta , Iametti Stefania , Bonomi Francesco , Indiveri Cesare , Barile Maria
Published: January 2018

FAD synthase (FADS, EC 2.7.7.2) is the last essential enzyme involved in the pathway of biosynthesis of Flavin cofactors starting from Riboflavin (Rf). Alternative splicing of the human FLAD1 gene generates different isoforms of the enzyme FAD synthase. Besides the well characterized isoform 1 and 2, other FADS isoforms with different catalytic domains have been detected, which are splice variants. We report the characterization of one of these novel isoforms, a 320 amino acid protein, consisting of the sole C-terminal 3′-phosphoadenosine 5′-phosphosulfate (PAPS) reductase domain (named FADS6). This isoform has been previously detected in Riboflavin-Responsive (RR-MADD) and Non-responsive Multiple Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency (MADD) patients with frameshift mutations of FLAD1 gene. To functionally characterize the hFADS6, it has been over-expressed in Escherichia coli and purified with a yield of 25 mg·L−1 of cell culture. The protein has a monomeric form, it binds FAD and is able to catalyze FAD synthesis (kcat about 2.8 min−1), as well as FAD pyrophosphorolysis in a strictly Mg2+-dependent manner. The synthesis of FAD is inhibited by HgCl2. The enzyme lacks the ability to hydrolyze FAD. It behaves similarly to PAPS. Combining threading and ab-initio strategy a 3D structural model for such isoform has been built. The relevance to human physio-pathology of this FADS isoform is discussed.
Towards Comprehension of the ABCB1/P-Glycoprotein Role in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
Authors: Maia Raquel , Vasconcelos Flavia , Souza Paloma , Rumjanek Vivian
Published: January 2018

Abstract: The introduction of imatinib (IM), a BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), has represented a significant advance in the first-line treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, approximately 30% of patients need to discontinue IM due to resistance or intolerance to this drug. Both resistance and intolerance have also been observed in treatment with the second-generation TKIs—dasatinib, nilotinib, and bosutinib—and the third-generation TKI—ponatinib. The mechanisms of resistance to TKIs may be BCR-ABL1-dependent and/or BCR-ABL1-independent. Although the role of efflux pump P-glycoprotein (Pgp), codified by the ABCB1 gene, is unquestionable in drug resistance of many neoplasms, a longstanding question exists about whether Pgp has a firm implication in TKI resistance in the clinical scenario. The goal of this review is to offer an overview of ABCB1/Pgp expression/activity/polymorphisms in CML. Understanding how interactions, associations, or cooperation between Pgp and other molecules—such as inhibitor apoptosis proteins, microRNAs, or microvesicles—impact IM resistance risk may be critical in evaluating the response to TKIs in CML patients. In addition, new non-TKI compounds may be necessary in order to overcome the resistance mediated by Pgp in CML.
Effects of Reorientation of Graphene Platelets (GPLs) on Young’s Modulus of Polymer Composites under Bi-Axial Stretching
Authors: Feng Chuang , Wang Yu , Yang Jie
Published: January 2018

Effects of bi-axial stretching induced reorientation of graphene platelets (GPLs) on the Young’s modulus of GPL/polymer composites is studied by Mori-Tanaka micromechanics model. The dispersion state of the GPLs in polymer matrix is captured by an orientation distribution function (ODF), in which two Euler angles are used to identify the orientation of the GPLs. Compared to uni-axial stretching, the increase of the stretching strain in the second direction enhances the re-alignment of GPL fillers in this direction while it deteriorates the re-alignment of the fillers in the other two directions. Comprehensive parametric study on the effects of the out-of-plane Young’s modulus, stretching strain, strain ratio, Poisson’s ratio and weight fraction and GPL dimension on the effective Young’s moduli of the composites in the three directions are conducted. It is found that the out-of-plane Young’s modulus has limited effects on the overall Young’s modulus of the composites. The second stretching enhances the Young’s modulus in this direction while it decreases the Young’s modulus in the other two directions. The results demonstrate the increase of Poisson’s ratio is favorable in increasing the Young’s modulus of the composites. GPLs with larger diameter-to-thickness ratio have better reinforcing effect on the Young’s modulus of GPL/polymer nanocomposites.
Gelidium elegans Extract Ameliorates Type 2 Diabetes via Regulation of MAPK and PI3K/Akt Signaling
Authors: Choi Jia , Kim Kui-Jin , Koh Eun-Jeong , Lee Boo-Yong
Published: January 2018

Gelidium elegans, a red alga native to the Asia Pacific region, contains biologically active polyphenols. We conducted a molecular biological study of the anti-diabetic effect of Gelidium elegans extract (GEE) in C57BL/KsJ-db/db mice. Mice that had been administered GEE had significantly lower body mass, water consumption, and fasting blood glucose than db/db controls. Moreover, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), an indicator of the glycemic status of people with diabetes, was significantly lower in mice that had been administered GEE. We also found that 200 mg/kg/day GEE upregulates the insulin signaling pathway by activating insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and increasing the expression of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4). In parallel, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity was lower in GEE-treated groups. In summary, these findings indicate that GEE regulates glucose metabolism by activating the insulin signaling pathway and downregulating the MAPK signaling pathway.
Universal Free Choice and Innocent Inclusion
Authors: Bar-Lev Moshe E. , Fox Danny
Published: January 2018

The goal of this paper is to provide a global account of universal Free Choice (FC) inferences (argued to be needed in Chemla 2009b). We propose a stronger exhaustivity operator than proposed in Fox (2007), one that doesn’t only negate all the Innocently Excludable (IE) alternatives but also asserts all the ``Innocently Includable'' (II) ones, and subsequently can derive universal FC inferences globally. We further show that Innocent Inclusion is independently motivated by considerations that come from the semantics of only (data from Alxatib 2014). Finally, the distinction between Innocent Exclusion and Innocent Inclusion allows us to capture differences between FC inferences and other scalar implicatures.
Restrictions on complement anaphora
Authors: Schmitt Viola , Onea Edgar , Buch Friederike
Published: January 2018

This paper discusses the semantic status and the restrictions on complement anaphora, i.e. pronouns that are anaphorically related to quantifiers and seem to refer to the `complement set' of the latter -- the set of those individuals that are in the restrictor but not in the nuclear scope of the quantifier. Our main empirical point, motivated by data from German, is that  contrary to the claims in  the literature, true complement set reference is not exclusively determined by the logical properties of the quantifier but also by its the syntactic context. Based on this observation, we argue that plural quantifiers provide anaphoric antecendents by a particular inference mechanism, which is sensitive to syntactic information: We submit that speakers employ verifying strategies for sentences with plural quantifiers where a  `test' discourse referent is inserted in the `syntactic slot' the plural quantifier originally occurs in. If a discourse referent, when inserted in this slot, yields truth-conditions for the resulting sentence that are equivalent to those of the original sentence, it can be used as an antecendent for anaphora.
A new perspective on the shielding property of positive polarity
Authors: Nicolae Andreea Cristina
Published: January 2018

In certain languages, disjunctions exhibit positive polarity behavior, which Szabolcsi (2002) argues can be diagnosed via the following four properties: (i) anti-licensing: no narrow scope interpretation under a clausemate negation, (ii) rescuing: acceptable in the scope of an even number of negative operators, (iii) shielding: acceptable under a clausemate negation if a universal quantifier intervenes, and (iv) locality of anti-licensing: acceptable in the scope of an extra-clausal negation. In recent work, Nicolae (2016, 2017), building on Spector 2014, argues that what distinguishes PPI disjunctions from polarity insensitive disjunctions is the fact that PPI-disjunctions obligatorily trigger epistemic inferences. That analysis, however, only accounts for the first two PPI properties. This paper extends that analysis to account for the second two properties, concluding that they should be seen as instantiations of the same phenomena, namely shielding by a universal quantifier.
Quantifying Weak Nonthermal Solar Radio Emission at Low Radio Frequencies
Authors: Sharma Rohit , Oberoi Divya , Arjunwadkar Mihir
Published: January 2018

The recent availability of fine-grained high-sensitivity data from the new generation of low radio frequency instruments such as the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) has opened up opportunities for using novel techniques for characterizing the nature of solar emission at these frequencies. Here we use this opportunity to look for evidence for the presence of weak nonthermal emissions in the 100–240 MHz band, at levels weaker than have been probed so far. The presence of such features is believed to be a necessary consequence of nanoflare-based coronal and chromospheric heating theories. We separate the calibrated MWA solar dynamic spectra into a slowly varying and an impulsive, and hence nonthermal, component. We demonstrate that Gaussian mixture modeling can be used to robustly model the latter, and we estimate the flux density distribution as well as the prevalence of impulsive nonthermal emission in the frequency-time plane. Evidence for the presence of nonthermal emission at levels down to ∼0.2 SFU (1 SFU = 104 Jy) is reported, making them the weakest reported emissions of this nature. Our work shows the fractional occupancy of the nonthermal impulsive emission to lie in the 17%–45% range during a period of medium solar activity. We also find that the flux density radiated in the impulsive nonthermal emission is very similar in strength to that of the slowly varying component, which is dominated by thermal bremsstrahlung. Such significant prevalence and strength of the weak impulsive nonthermal emission has not been appreciated before.
On the Nature of Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy Candidates. I. DES1, Eridanus III, and Tucana V
Authors: Conn Blair C. , Jerjen Helmut , Kim Dongwon , Schirmer Mischa
Published: January 2018

We use deep Gemini/GMOS-S g, r photometry to study the three ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidates DES1, Eridanus III (Eri III), and Tucana V (Tuc V). Their total luminosities, M

V
(DES1) = −1.42 ± 0.50 and M

V
(Eri III) = −2.07 ± 0.50, and mean metallicities,

and

, are consistent with them being ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, as they fall just outside the 1σ confidence band of the luminosity–metallicity relation for Milky Way satellite galaxies. However, their positions in the size–luminosity relation suggest that they are star clusters. Interestingly, DES1 and Eri III are at relatively large Galactocentric distances, with DES1 located at

and Eri III at

. In projection, both objects are in the tail of gaseous filaments trailing the Magellanic Clouds and have similar 3D separations from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC):

kpc and

kpc, respectively. It is plausible that these stellar systems are metal-poor SMC satellites. Tuc V represents an interesting phenomenon in its own right. Our deep photometry at the nominal position of Tuc V reveals a low-level excess of stars at various locations across the GMOS field without a well-defined center. An SMC Northern Overdensity–like isochrone would be an adequate match to the Tuc V color–magnitude diagram, and the proximity to the SMC (12.°1;

kpc) suggests that Tuc V is either a chance grouping of stars related to the SMC halo or a star cluster in an advanced stage of dissolution.