Border is better than distance? Contagious corruption in one belt one road economies

Employing data of one belt one road (OBOR) countries from 2002 to 2013, this study compares the contagious corruption difference between geographic border and distance through the dynamic spatial econometric model. The empirical results not only confirm that corruption in OBOR countries exists under various contagious channels, but also indicate that border effects, serving as contagious channels for corruption, are better than distance effects. The empirical implication is that OBOR countries with a common border tend to possess contagious corruption due to the hosts’ demonstration effect and the convenience of transferring illegal assets. We advise that those OBOR countries should enhance the supervision of cash flow, look for any opportunity of kicking back a portion of the stolen money, and establish a specific task force on corruption

Expression and Significance of RANTES and MCP-1 in Renal Tissue With Chronic Renal Allograft Dysfunction

AbstractBackgroundTo investigate the expression of RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T-cell–expressed and –secreted) and monocyte chemoattractant protein–1 (MCP-1) in renal allografts with chronic renal allograft dysfunction (CRAD), and explore its relationship with interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IF/TA).MethodsAn immunohistochemical assay and computer-assisted, genuine colored image analysis system were used to detect the expression of RANTES and MCP-1 in renal allografts with CRAD. The relationship among the expression level of MCP-1, RANTES, and the grade of inflammatory cell infiltration, interstitial fibrosis, and tubular atrophy in renal allografts were analyzed. Ten specimens of healthy renal tissue were used as controls.ResultsCompared to the normal tissues, the expressions of RANTES and MCP-1 were significantly higher in the renal tissues with CRAD (P < .001), and the expressions tended to increase along with the pathological grade of IF/TA. The expression of RANTES and MCP-1 were positively correlated with the pathological grades of IF/TA (r = 0.940 and 0.954 respectively, P < .001 for both).ConclusionIn renal allograft tissue with CRAD, the up-regulated expressions of RANTES and MCP-1 may be related to the progression of chronic renal allograft dysfunction and allograft fibrosis

INFORMATION COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY UNDERGRADUATES’ PERCEPTIONS ON E-PORTFOLIO AS A TOOL IN A TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION COURSE

The demands for soft skills have arisen tremendously over recent years as universities incorporate these skills into their curriculum. Graduates need the technical knowledge as well as the soft skills in order to perform effectively in the workplace. This paper investigates the impact of an e-Portfolio in a technical communication course to enhance the information technology students’ soft skills in communication, critical thinking and problem solving and teamwork. The objective of the research is to find out the undergraduates’ perceptions on e-Portfolio as a tool in a technical communication course. An open-ended questionnaire was distributed to 65 students to elicit information at the end of the semester. The findings showed that most of the students’ found that e-Portfolio had helped them to improve their learning. This indicates that e-Portfolio has the potential as a tool to enhance students’ soft skills in their learning

Novel in situ multi-level analysis of structural-mechanical relations in a bioinspired polyurethane-based tissue model

In this manuscript, we elucidated, for the first time, the substructural mechanisms present in our recently developed bioinspired polyurethane-based pancreatic tissue models. Different protein coatings of the model, i.e., collagen and fibronectin were examined. More specifically, analysis took place by combined real-time synchrotron X-ray scattering techniques and confocal laser scanning microscopy, to quantify the structural alteration of uncoated-polyurethane (PU) and protein-coated PU as well as the time-resolved structural reorganisation occurring at the micro-, nano- and lattice length scales during in situ micromechanical testing. We demonstrate that a clear increase of stiffness at the lamellar level following the fibronectin-PU modification, which is linked to the changes in the mechanics of the lamellae and interlamellar cohesion. This multi-level analysis of structural-mechanical relations in this polyurethane-based pancreatic cancer tissue model opens an opportunity in designing mechanically robust cost-effective tissue models not only for fundamental research but also for treatment screening

Parsimonious continuous time random walk models and kurtosis for diffusion in magnetic resonance of biological tissue

In this paper, we provide a context for the modeling approaches that have been developed to describe non-Gaussian diffusion behavior, which is ubiquitous in diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging of water in biological tissue. Subsequently, we focus on the formalism of the continuous time random walk theory to extract properties of subdiffusion and superdiffusionthrough novel simplifications of the Mittag-Leffler function. For the case of time-fractional subdiffusion, we compute the kurtosis for the Mittag-Leffler function, which provides both a connection and physical context to the much-used approach of diffusional kurtosis imaging. We provide Monte Carlo simulations to illustrate the concepts of anomalous diffusion as stochastic processes of the random walk. Finally, we demonstrate the clinical utility of the Mittag-Leffler function as a model to describe tissue microstructure through estimations of subdiffusion and kurtosis with diffusion MRI measurements in the brain of a chronic ischemic stroke patient

A computational study of fluid transport characteristics in the brain parenchyma of dementia subtypes

The cerebral environment is a complex system consisting of parenchymal tissue and multiple fluids. Dementia is a common class of neurodegenerative diseases, caused by structural damages and functional deficits in the cerebral environment. In order to better understand the pathology of dementia from a cerebral fluid transport angle and provide clearer evidence that could help differentiate between dementia subtypes, such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, we conducted fluid–structure interaction modelling of the brain using a multiple-network poroelasticity model, which considers both neuropathological and cerebrovascular factors. The parenchyma was further subdivided and labelled into parcellations to obtain more localised and detailed data. The numerical results were converted to computed functional images by an in-house workflow. Different cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) clearance abnormalities were identified in the modelling results, when comparing Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. This paper presents our preliminary results as a proof of concept for a novel clinical diagnostic tool, and paves the way for a larger clinical study