The effect of trade on the gender gap in labour markets: the moderating role of information and communication technologies

This study analyses the impact of international trade on the gender gap in labour force participation while considering the moderating role of information and communication technologies (ICT). Our analyses of panel data from 79 developing economies over 2006–2019 reveal that international trade narrows gender gap, and the interaction between trade and ICT is likely to widen it. Further, the impact of these two parameters on the gender gap varies across economies by development level and region. Developing economies should strategically focus on trade promotion and adopt gender-equitable ICT development policies to narrow gender gap

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF HYBRID SOLAR AIRWATER HEATER WITH VARIOUS INLET AIR TEMPERATURE DURING HEATING PROCESS

Research about hybrid solar air-water heater that can heating both air and liquid has been conducted for enhancing the usage of solar thermal energy. In the previous study, thermal efficiency of this collector was investigated with many operating and external conditions, but all of previous experiment conducted using outdoor air as inlet air of collector. Thus, in this study, the performance change of hybrid solar air-water heater was investigated with change of inlet air temperature during air and liquid were heated simultaneously. As a result, thermal efficiency for liquid heating was increased with increment of the inlet air temperature. On the contrary to this, thermal efficiency for air heating of collector was decreased with increment of inlet air temperature. In case of total thermal efficiency of collector considered air and liquid heat gain, it was also decreased with increment of inlet air temperature. From these results, it was confirmed that using outdoor air directly as inlet air of collector is better for the use of solar energy. However it is hard to conclude that which is better between using outdoor air and heated air on the perspective of energy saving of building because heat storage performance was increased if the return air or any heated air is used as inlet air of hybrid solar air-water heater when air and liquid was heated simultaneously even air and total thermal efficiency is decreased. Thus, the necessity of more profound study and consideration about this as a further study was also confirmed

Superhydrophobic Waveguide: Liquid-core air-cladding waveguide platform for optofluidics

In this paper, we present an optofluidic waveguide platform consisting of liquid as a core material and air as cladding, enabled by using a superhydrophobic channel featured with hydrophobized high-aspect-ratio sharp-tip nanostructures. The contact of the liquid core with the superhydrophobic channel wall is minimized with an air layer retained between them so that the effective refractive index of the cladding layer is close to that of air. Thus, when light is introduced through the core liquid having a higher refractive index than that of the cladding air at the incident angle parallel to the channel direction less than a critical angle, it is reflected at the liquid-gas interface by the total internal reflection. When the cladding layer is filled with water (i.e., Wenzel state), the waveguide losses for the incident angles of 0 and 10° were ∼3.9 and ∼6.8 dB/cm, respectively. In contrast, when the cladding layer is retained with air (i.e., Cassie-Baxter state), the waveguide losses for the same incident angles were as low as ∼0.1 and ∼1.8 dB/cm, respectively. The significantly lowered waveguide losses at the Cassie-Baxter state indicate that superhydrophobic channels can provide the effective waveguide platform for optofluidics, exploiting the air layer as the cladding material

Ultraviolet photodepletion spectroscopy of dibenzo-18-crown-6-ether complexes with alkali metal cations

Ultraviolet photodepletion spectra of dibenzo-18-crown-6-ether complexes with alkali metal cations (M+-DB18C6, M = Cs, Rb, K, Na, and Li) were obtained in the gas phase using electrospray ionization quadrupole ion-trap reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The spectra exhibited a few distinct absorption bands in the wavenumber region of 35450−37800 cm^(−1). The lowest-energy band was tentatively assigned to be the origin of the S_0-S_1 transition, and the second band to a vibronic transition arising from the “benzene breathing” mode in conjunction with symmetric or asymmetric stretching vibration of the bonds between the metal cation and the oxygen atoms in DB18C6. The red shifts of the origin bands were observed in the spectra as the size of the metal cation in M^+-DB18C6 increased from Li^+ to Cs^+. We suggested that these red shifts arose mainly from the decrease in the binding energies of larger-sized metal cations to DB18C6 at the electronic ground state. These size effects of the metal cations on the geometric and electronic structures, and the binding properties of the complexes at the S_0 and S_1 states were further elucidated by theoretical calculations using density functional and time-dependent density functional theories

Tribological Properties of Micropored Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Hydrogels in a Biomimetic Aqueous Environment

The applications of hydrogels in tissue engineering as implants have rapidly grown in the last decade. However, the tribological properties of hydrogels under physiologically relevant conditions, especially those of textured hydrogels, have remained largely unknown due to the complexity of their mechanical and chemical properties. In this study, we experimentally investigated the tribological properties of micopored poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) with the lateral pore dimensions varied compared to untextured pHEMA, the most commonly used hydrogel in ophthalmology, under physiologically relevant conditions. The pHEMA specimens were slid against a smooth glass curve under varying loads (6-60 mN, leading to an average contact pressure of 10-21 kPa) and sliding speeds (1-10 mm/s) in phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.4) at 33 °C to mimic the physiological conditions in human eyes. At relatively low loads and sliding speeds (e.g., 6 mN and 1 mm/s), the micopored pHEMA did not reduce the dissipated frictional energy significantly. However, at relatively high loads and sliding speeds (e.g., 60 mN and 100 mm/s), the micopored pHEMA resulted in significantly lower frictional energy (reduced by up to 68%) dissipation than the untextured pHEMA. The effect was more pronounced with the micropores with smaller dimensions. These are attributed to the greater amount and retentivity of the interfacial fluid supported by the free water squeezed out of the micropores with the smaller dimensions under the higher load and sliding speed. These results suggest that the use of micropore texturing on hydrogels in practice, such as for ocular applications, can be leveraged to reduce friction and wear under physiological conditions and hence lower the chance of inflammation near eye implants or keratoprosthesis

Role of G{alpha}12 and G{alpha}13 as Novel Switches for the Activity of Nrf2, a Key Antioxidative Transcription Factor

G{alpha}12 and G{alpha}13 function as molecular regulators responding to extracellular stimuli. NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is involved in a protective adaptive response to oxidative stress. This study investigated the regulation of Nrf2 by G{alpha}12 and G{alpha}13. A deficiency of G{alpha}12, but not of G{alpha}13, enhanced Nrf2 activity and target gene transactivation in embryo fibroblasts. In mice, G{alpha}12 knockout activated Nrf2 and thereby facilitated heme catabolism to bilirubin and its glucuronosyl conjugations. An oligonucleotide microarray demonstrated the transactivation of Nrf2 target genes by G{alpha}12 gene knockout. G{alpha}12 deficiency reduced Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK)-dependent Nrf2 ubiquitination required for proteasomal degradation, and so did G{alpha}13 deficiency. The absence of G{alpha}12, but not of G{alpha}13, increased protein kinase C {delta} (PKC {delta}) activation and the PKC {delta}-mediated serine phosphorylation of Nrf2. G{alpha}13 gene knockout or knockdown abrogated the Nrf2 phosphorylation induced by G{alpha}12 deficiency, suggesting that relief from G{alpha}12 repression leads to the G{alpha}13-mediated activation of Nrf2. Constitutive activation of G{alpha}13 promoted Nrf2 activity and target gene induction via Rho-mediated PKC {delta} activation, corroborating positive regulation by G{alpha}13. In summary, G{alpha}12 and G{alpha}13 transmit a JNK-dependent signal for Nrf2 ubiquitination, whereas G{alpha}13 regulates Rho-PKC {delta}-mediated Nrf2 phosphorylation, which is negatively balanced by G{alpha}12