The Effect of Firm Specific Advantages and Monitoring Mechanism to Foreign Subsidiaries Performance

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of firm-specific advantages and monitoring mechanisms on the performance of foreign subsidiaries in Indonesia. Firm-specific advantages refer to marketing ability, management ability, and firm size. Monitoring mechanism refer to independent commisioner and financial leverage. This study using purposive sampling in collecting the data. The sample in this study consist of manufacturing company that is listing on the Indonesian Stock Exchange in 2012. The results indicate that the management expertise and financial leverage significant effect on the performance of foreign subsidiaries. Business strategy that run the company failed to moderate the relationship between firm -specific advantages and monitoring mechanisms on the performance of foreign subsidiaries

Increased occurrence of hypothyroidism among pregnant women during the first trimester and its correlation with anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (anti-TPO) and gestational diabetes mellitus in Chattagram region, Bangladesh

Background: The present study was aimed at investigating the prevalence of hypothyroidism in pregnant women in their first trimester in Chattagram, an iodine-sufficient area in Bangladesh. We also studied whether hypothyroidism in pregnancy has any correlation with high titres of anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies and the occurrence of gestational diabetes mellitus.Methods: Our study included 100 pregnant women at their first antenatal checkup based on certain preselected criteria in two tertiary care hospitals in Chattogram. The levels of serum TSH, FT4, and anti-TPO were estimated to detect thyroid function from the collected blood sample. The oral glucose tolerance test was carried out between 24 and 28 weeks of gestational age. A standard predesigned proforma was used to record a detailed patient history and the findings of general physical examinations.Results: According to our results, thyroid disorder and GDM affect 19% and 13% of total pregnancies, respectively. Among TD patients, subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) prevails the most (11%). The majority of the hypothyroid patients with a high titre of anti-TPO positivity (11%) indicate an autoimmune etiology (p<0.001). Furthermore, a statistically significant relationship (p<0.01) was established between hypothyroidism and GDM. No demographic data was observed to affect GDM and hypothyroidism.Conclusion: Thyroid disorders affect one in every six pregnant women in the southern part of Bangladesh. Moreover, hypothyroid pregnant women were found to be highly susceptible to GDM. Euthyroid women with a high titre of anti-TPO during their gestation should be closely monitored for the development of hypothyroidism and GDM

Convergence to equilibrium for the discrete coagulation-fragmentation equations with detailed balance

Under the condition of detailed balance and some additional restrictions on the size of the coefficients, we identify the equilibrium distribution to which solutions of the discrete coagulation-fragmentation system of equations converge for large times, thus showing that there is a critical mass which marks a change in the behavior of the solutions. This was previously known only for particular cases as the generalized Becker-D\"oring equations. Our proof is based on an inequality between the entropy and the entropy production which also gives some information on the rate of convergence to equilibrium for solutions under the critical mass.Comment: 28 page

Evaluation of pharmacological and toxicological studies of an ayurvedic medicine Rasaraj Ras on biological system of the male Sprague-Dawley rats

Background: In this study, the pharmacological and toxicological effects along with possible side effects of the classical ayurvedic formulation Rasaraj Ras (RR) which is used as a traditional medicine in the treatment of hemiplegia in the rural population were evaluated.Methods: During this study, various experiments on body growth rate, organ-body weight ratio and tissue hydration indices were performed to evaluate its efficacy and toxicity. To find out the toxicological characteristic of RR, it was administered chronically to the male Sprague-Dawley rats at a dose of 40 mg/kg. After 28 days chronic administration of the RR preparation the following toxicological changes were noted.Results: All throughout the experimental period the RR treated animals were always maintaining negligible changes in body weight, but all throughout the experimental period no statistically significant increase or decrease was noted. There is a statistically significant decrease in the relative percent weight of the male rat heart. There is a statistically highly significant decrease in the absolute weight of the male rat liver. There is a statistically highly significant decrease in the relative percent weight of the male rat liver. There is a statistically significant decrease in the relative percent weight of the male rat kidney. In the tissue hydration index determination, no significant changes were noted in case of any organ.Conclusions: As RR decreases abnormally weight of several organs in body of treated rats, so it should not be administered chronically at a higher dose

Rigorous derivation of a nonlinear diffusion equation as fast-reaction limit of a continuous coagulation-fragmentation model with diffusion

Weak solutions of the spatially inhomogeneous (diffusive) Aizenmann-Bak model of coagulation-breakup within a bounded domain with homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions are shown to converge, in the fast reaction limit, towards local equilibria determined by their mass. Moreover, this mass is the solution of a nonlinear diffusion equation whose nonlinearity depends on the (size-dependent) diffusion coefficient. Initial data are assumed to have integrable zero order moment and square integrable first order moment in size, and finite entropy. In contrast to our previous result [CDF2], we are able to show the convergence without assuming uniform bounds from above and below on the number density of clusters

Boltzmann and Fokker-Planck equations modelling the Elo rating system with learning effects

In this paper we propose and study a new kinetic rating model for a large number of players, which is motivated by the well-known Elo rating system. Each player is characterised by an intrinsic strength and a rating, which are both updated after each game. We state and analyse the respective Boltzmann type equation and derive the corresponding nonlinear, nonlocal Fokker-Planck equation. We investigate the existence of solutions to the Fokker-Planck equation and discuss their behaviour in the long time limit. Furthermore, we illustrate the dynamics of the Boltzmann and Fokker-Planck equation with various numerical experiments

Coupled Systems of Differential-Algebraic and Kinetic Equations with Application to the Mathematical Modelling of Muscle Tissue

We consider a coupled system composed of a linear differential-algebraic equation (DAE) and a linear large-scale system of ordinary differential equations where the latter stands for the dynamics of numerous identical particles. Replacing the discrete particles by a kinetic equation for a particle density, we obtain in the mean-field limit the new class of partially kinetic systems. We investigate the influence of constraints on the kinetic theory of those systems and present necessary adjustments. We adapt the mean-field limit to the DAE model and show that index reduction and the mean-field limit commute. As a main result, we prove Dobrushin's stability estimate for linear systems. The estimate implies convergence of the mean-field limit and provides a rigorous link between the particle dynamics and their kinetic description. Our research is inspired by mathematical models for muscle tissue where the macroscopic behaviour is governed by the equations of continuum mechanics, often discretised by the finite element method, and the microscopic muscle contraction process is described by Huxley's sliding filament theory. The latter represents a kinetic equation that characterises the state of the actin-myosin bindings in the muscle filaments. Linear partially kinetic systems are a simplified version of such models, with focus on the constraints.Comment: 32 pages, 18 figure

Ethnic differences in DNA methyltransferases expression in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune inflammatory disease with both genetic and epigenetic etiologies. Evidence suggests that deregulation of specific genes through epigenetic mechanisms may be a contributing factor to SLE pathology. There is increasing evidence that DNA methyltransferase activity may be involved. This study demonstrated modulation in expression of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) according to ethnicity in patients diagnosed with SLE. Furthermore, differential expression in one of the DNMTs was found in a subset of lupus patients on dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) therapy. Real-time PCR analyses of DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a cohort of African American and European American lupus and non-lupus women were conducted. Also, global DNA methylation was assessed using the MethylFlash.sup.TM methylated quantification colorimetric assay. These findings suggest that epigenetic changes may play a critical role in the manifestations of the disease observed among ethnic groups, particularly African American women who often have a higher incidence of lupus. DHEA therapy effects on DNMT3A expression in AA women warrant further investigation in a larger population