The Granger-Causality between Transportation and GDP: A Panel Data Approach

This study investigates the Granger-causality relationship between real per capita GDP and transportation of EU-15 countries using a panel data set covering the period 1970-2008. Our findings indicate that the dominant type of Granger-causality is bidirectional. Accordingly, we conclude that care must be paid in defining the dependent and independent variables when studying the relationship between transportation and income. Instances of one-way or no Granger-causality were found to correspond with countries with the lowest income per capita ranks in 1970 and/or in 2008, including Portugal, Greece and Italy. We speculate that bi-directional Granger causality between income and transportation is observed only after an economy has completed its transition in terms of economic development.Granger-causality, Transportation, Income

Prevention and Reversal of Selenite-Induced Cataracts by N-Acetylcysteine Amide in Wistar Rats

Background: The present study sought to evaluate the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA) eye drops in reversing the cataract formation induced by sodium selenite in male Wistar rat pups. Methods: Forty male Wistar rat pups were randomly divided into a control group, an N-acetylcysteine amide-only group, a sodium selenite-induced cataract group, and a NACA-treated sodium selenite-induced cataract group. Sodium selenite was injected intraperitoneally on postpartum day 10, whereas N-acetylcysteine amide was injected intraperitoneally on postpartum days 9, 11, and 13 in the respective groups. Cataracts were evaluated at the end of week 2 (postpartum day 14) when the rat pups opened their eyes. N-acetylcysteine amide eye drops were administered beginning on week 3 until the end of week 4 (postpartum days 15 to 30), and the rats were sacrificed at the end of week 4. Lenses were isolated and examined for oxidative stress parameters such as glutathione, lipid peroxidation, and calcium levels along with the glutathione reductase and thioltransferase enzyme activities. Casein zymography and Western blot of m-calpain were performed using the water soluble fraction of lens proteins. Results: Morphological examination of the lenses in the NACA-treated group indicated that NACA was able to reverse the cataract grade. In addition, glutathione level, thioltransferase activity, m-calpain activity, and m-calpain level (as assessed by Western blot) were all significantly higher in the NACA-treated group than in the sodium selenite-induced cataract group. Furthermore, sodium selenite- injected rat pups had significantly higher levels of malondialdehyde, glutathione reductase enzyme activity, and calcium levels, which were reduced to control levels upon treatment with NACA. Conclusions: The data suggest that NACA has the potential to significantly improve vision and decrease the burden of cataract-related loss of function. Prevention and reversal of cataract formation could have a global impact. Development of pharmacological agents like NACA may eventually prevent cataract formation in high-risk populations and may prevent progression of early-stage cataracts. This brings a paradigm shift from expensive surgical treatment of cataracts to relatively inexpensive prevention of vision loss

Interval Mathematics and Linear Programming Applications

This thesis surveys the application of interval arithmetic to linear programming problems and presents an algorithm for solution of interval linear programming problems.Computing and Information Scienc

Development of an Integrative Structure for Discrete Event Simulation, Object Oriented Modeling and Embedded Decision Procession

Industrial Engineering and Managemen

N-acetyl-L-cysteine Amide Protects Retinal Pigment Epithelium Against Methamphetamine-induced Oxidative Stress

Methamphetamine (METH), a highly addictive drug used worldwide, induces oxidative stress in various animal organs. Recent animal studies indicate that methamphetamine also induces oxidative stress in the retina, which is an em- bryonic extension of the forebrain. The aim of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the pro- tecttive effects of N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA) against oxidative stress induced by METH in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. Our stud- ies showed that NACA protected against METH- induced oxidative stress in retinal pigment epithelial cells. Although METH significantly de- creased glutathione (GSH) levels and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondial- dehyde (MDA) levels, these returned to control levels with NACA treatment. Overall observa- tions indicated that NACA protected RPE cells against oxidative cell damage and death by in- hibiting lipid peroxidation, scavenging ROS, in- creasing levels of intracellular GSH, and main- taining the antioxidant enzyme activity and the integrity of the bloodretinal barrier (BRB). The effectiveness of NACA should be further evalu- ated to determine its potential for the treatment of numerous retinal diseases caused by oxidative stress

Impact of royal jelly to improve reproductive performance of male rabbits under hot summer conditions

[EN] To alleviate the deleterious effect of heat stress during summer conditions on male rabbits’ reproduction, 40 V Line adult rabbit bucks (on av. 8 mo old) were divided into 4 experimental groups and exposed to temperatures ranging from 23 to 36°C. Bucks in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th group were supplemented with 0, 50, 100 or 150 mg of Chinese royal jelly (RJ)/kg twice per week, respectively, over a 20-wk period. Semen quality and blood biochemical constituents were evaluated. RJ at any dose exhibited a significant increase (P<0.05) in rabbits’ sperm concentration, total sperm output, sperm motility, live sperm and normal sperm compared to the untreated controls. Plasma total protein, albumin, globulin, glucose and high density lipids (HDL) concentrations were significantly (P<0.05) boosted in the RJ groups compared to the controls. In contrast, RJ treatment resulted in a significant (P<0.05) reduction in plasma total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol and low density lipids (LDL) concentrations. Treatment with RJ significantly boosted (P<0.05) testosterone concentration in the RJ groups to reach 110, 120 and 128%, respectively, of the control group. Improved kidney and liver functions were observed in the RJ bucks groups where plasma creatinine, urea concentrations, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase enzyme activities were significantly (P<0.05) decreased by RJ treatments. Treating bucks subjected to heat stress by different RJ doses increased (P<0.05) total antioxidant capacity to 106, 111 and 115% of basal, but significantly reduced (P<0.05) malondialdehyde and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances compared to the untreated. It was concluded that Chinese royal jelly supplementation for heat-stressed male rabbits can counteract summer infertility and improve their physiological status.El-Hanoun, AM.; Elkomy, AE.; Fares, WA.; Shahien, EH. (2014). Impact of royal jelly to improve reproductive performance of male rabbits under hot summer conditions. World Rabbit Science. 22(3):241-248. doi:10.4995/wrs.2014.1677.SWORD241248223Abou-Hozaifa B.M., Badr El-Din, N.K. 1995. Royal jelly, a possible agent to reduce the nicotine-induced atherogenic lipoprotein profile. Saudi Med. J., 16: 337-342.Beutler E., Duron O., Kelly B.M. 1963. An improved method for the detection of blood glutathione. J. Lab. Clin. Med., 61: 882-888.Blom E. 1950. A one-minute live-dead sperm stain by means of eosin-nigrosin. J. Fertil. Steril., 1: 176-177.Crenguţa I.P., Liviu A.l.M., Otilia B., Daniel S.D., Agripina Ş., Ion R., Mariana N.M. 2011. Biological Activities of Royal Jelly-Review. Anim. Sci. Biotech., 44: 108-118.Conti M., Morand C., Levillain P., Lemmonnier A. 1991. Improved fluorometric determination of malondialdehyde. Clin. Chem., 37: 1273-1275.Graham J. 1992. The hive and the honey bee. revised edition. Dadant and Sons, Hamilton, Illinois, USA.Habig W.H., Pabst M.J., Jakoby W.B. 1974. Glutathione S-transferases. The first enzymatic step in mercapturic acid formation. J. Biol. Chem., 249: 7130-7139.Kamel K.I., Elkomy A.E., El-Sbeiy M.E. 2009. The Androgenic Action of Gibberellic Acid (GA)3 on Reproductive Performance of New Zealand White Rabbit Bucks. World J. Agric. Sci., 5:40-48.Karacal F., Aral F. 2008. Effect of the royal jelly on sperm quality in mice. Indian Vet. J., 85: 331-332.Kurkure N.V., Pawar S.P., Kognole S.M., Bhandarkar A.G., Ganorkar A.G., Kalorey D.R. 2000. Ameliorative effect of turmeric (Curcuma longa) in induced aflatoxicosis in cockerels. Ind. J. Vet. Pathol., 24: 26-28.Lewis, R. 2005. The infertility cure: the ancient Chinese wellness program for getting pregnant and having healthy babies. ed. Little, Brown and Company.Misra H.P., Fridovich I. 1972. The role of superoxide anion in the autoxidation of epinephrine and a simple assay for superoxide dismutase. J. Biol. Chem., 247: 3170-3175.Pizzorno J.E., Murray M.T., Joiner-Bey H. 2007. The Clinician's Handbook of Natural Medicine, 2nd ed. Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier, Philadelphia, USA.Prescott J., Lastra M., Barksdale L. 1982. Equi factors in the identification of Corynebacterium equi Magnusson. J. Clin. Microb., 16: 988-990.Schultz L.A. 1987. Methods in Clinical Chemistry. The C.V. Mosby Co. St Louis, USA, 742-746.Shinoda M., Nakajin S., Oikawa T., Sato K., Kamogawa A., Akiyama Y. 1978. Biochemical studies on vasodilative factor in royal jelly. Yakugaku Zassii, 98: 139-145.Smith J.T., Mayer D.T. 1955. Evaluation of sperm concentration by the hemocytometer method. Fertil Steril, 6: 271-275.Xu B., Zeng Z. 2011. Effect of royal jelly on growth and reproduction performance of male rabbits. Scientia Agricultura Sinica, 10: 2154-2160