Global Trends And Debt Relief For Asia, Latin America, And Africa: A Multiple Discriminant Analysis

Emerging country debt levels are at an all time high.  There seems to be a great need to find a solution to the mounting level of external debt in the continents of Asia, South America and Africa.  Utilizing multiple discriminant analysis this study looks at whether indebted countries in the various continents responded differently to macroeconomic factors and whether the level of debt made those economies respond to macroeconomic measures.  This study supports the notion that Asian countries are more affected by debt factors influencing their economies than countries in Latin America or Africa.   The study further shows that various debt levels; e.g.; high, medium, versus low have a significant influence on macroeconomic factors.  Therefore this article strongly supports policies for country debt reduction worldwide.

Indian Tigers, Chinese Dragons: Uncertainty, Risk, And Entrepreneurial Behavior

This paper examines entrepreneurship in two of the modern marvels of emerging markets: China and India. Both of these countries have immense economic problems, but are growing at a strong rate. These growth rates are also creating powerful entrepreneurial forces. Which region is going to develop more entrepreneurs or attract foreign investments quicker is the key to a race between the two countries. This paper presents a conceptual framework that shows the relationships between uncertainty, risk, and entrepreneurial behavior, and also the problems and successes of entrepreneurs, with illustration of three cases from each country. The paper discusses similarities and differences in entrepreneurial risk taking between the two countries and presents key factors that impact entrepreneurial activity in these two countries. This paper has implications for companies seeking new markets, or business partners in these nations

Gold as a Hedge for Inflation: An Event-Study of Abnormal Inflationary Periods in the Past Five Decades

Historically gold and inflation have had a weak positive correlation; therefore, gold has been considered an inflationary hedge and a “safe haven” in times of high inflation for investors. An event-study of five periods with deviant inflation in the past five decades were examined in this study to determine the abnormal return (AR) of gold in comparison to the U.S. stock market (S&P 500). These findings concluded a deviation in market perception regarding the inflationary hedge that gold has historically adhered to have. Specifically, the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict caused a large shift in investors' sentiment of investing into gold as a hedge, as the event window concluded significant negative abnormal returns. Simultaneously the U.S. experienced economic factors that would historically have caused gold prices to increase, yet the opposite occurred. Although the Ukraine conflict's final outcome is still unknown, early stage-data shows how gold could potentially not be considered a “safe haven” or an inflationary hedge today, given many dynamic factors ruling the world

Developing economy banking: the case of Islamic banks

By 2003, there was a total of 176 Islamic banks around the globe with their total assets close to $147 billion. This article shows that this form of specialized banking may help in promoting growth in these developing economies. During the transition phase of a developing growth economy to a full fledged market based economy many structural changes are required in its financial institutions, especially since the role of a financial intermediary in supplying funds to growing new industries is crucial. At the same time, the potential for destabilization resulting from improper resource allocation, due to either faulty risk assessment or the design of the contract, could be significant. Also, this article examines the implementation of an Islamic banking system and how Islamic banks can provide liquidity and aid in the money creation process through offering transactions accounts with compensation for inflation to risk-avoiding depositors.Banking, Economics, Islam, Law, Risk management

Crossbar Controller for the Adaptive Multistage Crossbar Network

Abstract: AMBAR is a message passing multiprocessor system based on a multistage crossbar network. In this paper, the design of a crossbar controller for AMBAR system is presented. The responsibility of the crossbar controller is to program the crossbar switches creating a path between the source and the destination node. The design is modular, fast, and feasible using current off the shelf components. Also, a simple hardware solution for resolving contention in the network is presented. 1

Modulation of Th17 Proliferation and IL-17A Gene Expression by Acetylated Form of Apigenin in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

The presence of Th17 cells in CNS lesion of MS patients due to their inflammatory cytokines secretion is in line with the deterioration of the disease. Currently, the use of natural compounds with anti-inflammatory properties such as flavonoids have been considered to reduce inflammation in these patients, but the remaining issue is how deliver these compounds to the site of inflammation. Acetylation is a way to better uptake compound by cells and cross through cellular layers with tight junctions. This study aimed to investigate the in vitro effects of the Apigenin 3-Acetate on Th17 cells of MS patients and compare its efficacy with Apigenin and Methyl Prednisolone Acetate. IC50 for Apigenin 3-Acetate, and Methyl Prednisolone Acetate were determined using three healthy volunteers. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of five MS patients were isolated and co-cultured with a selected dose of Apigenin, Apigenin 3-Acetate, and Methyl Prednisolone Acetate for 48 hr, and then theproliferation of Th17 cells in isolated PBMCs was assessed by flow cytometry. The levels of RAR-related orphan receptor (RORC) and IL-17A expression were also determined by quantitative real-time PCR. The results showed that Apigenin 3-Acetate inhibited Th17 cells proliferation (P value: 0.018) at 80 µM concentration after 48 hr. Additionally, IL-17A gene expression significantly (P value� 0.0001) inhibited by Apigenin, Apigenin 3-Acetate and Methyl Prednisolone Acetate in 80 µM, 80 µM and 2.5 µM (selected dose in IC50 determination) respectively These results demonstrate that Acetate increases anti-inflammatory effects of Apigenin on Th17 cells. © 2020, © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC