EXCHANGE RATE AND ITS IMPACT ON FOREIGN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

In the article the influence of a market exchange rate and its ratio with purchasing power parity of national currency on behavior motivation of the subjects of the foreign trade activities is analyzed. The system of the country rating estimation depending on currency conditions of foreign trade activities is developed. The evaluation of the currency component in foreign trade activities of Ukraine is presented.exchange rate, foreign economic activity, market.

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SAUDI WOMEN’S EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES IN GRADUATE ENGLISH PROGRAMS IN TWO INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS: SAUDI ARABIA AND THE UNITED STATES

Although there are a significant number of Saudi females pursuing graduate degrees in Saudi Arabia and abroad, few studies have examined their educational experiences. This qualitative multi-case study examines the educational experiences of ten Saudi females who graduated with a master’s degree in an English language related field in two international contexts: American universities and Saudi universities. By conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews and document analysis, this study explored the challenges these two groups faced and the strategies they used to succeed in higher education institutions in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. This study discusses the roles that culture, religion, gender, and the English language play in these Saudi women’s academic experiences. In addition, this research sheds light on how these two groups’ educational experiences in two dissimilar international contexts influenced their views, values, and concepts of education and their personal identities as Saudi women. v In each case, Saudi female participants faced different challenges and opportunities. The five Saudi female participants in the first case, those who graduated from American universities, were supported academically more than culturally, socially, and religiously. In contrast, the five Saudi female participants in the second case, those who graduated from Saudi universities, were supported culturally, socially, and religiously more than academically. To overcome their challenges, in both cases the participants were resilient. In addition, the Saudi female students who graduated from American universities experienced the racial/ethnic diversity and gender integration of U.S. classrooms and society and developed intercultural competence. In both cases, pursuing a graduate degree (and facing different challenges along the way) was a transformational journey that helped all the participants grow personally and academically. Based on this study’s findings, recommendations are presented for empowering Saudi female graduate students and enhancing their academic success in higher education both in Saudi Arabia and in the United States

RNA-sequencing analysis in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia reveals aberrant gene expression and splicing alterations

Background: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is a neoplasm of immature lymphoid progenitors and is the leading cause of cancer-related death in children. The majority of B-ALL cases are characterized by recurring structural chromosomal rearrangements that are crucial for triggering leukemogenesis, but do not explain all incidences of disease. Therefore, other molecular mechanisms, such as alternative splicing and epigenetic regulation may alter expression of transcripts that are associated with the development of B-ALL. To determine differentially expressed and spliced RNA transcripts in precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients a high throughput RNA-seq analysis was performed. Methods: Eight B-ALL patients and eight healthy donors were analyzed by RNA-seq analysis. Statistical testing was performed in edgeR. Each annotated gene was mapped to its corresponding gene object in the Ingenuity KB. Analysis of RNA-seq data for splicing alterations in B-ALL patients and healthy donors was performed with custom Perl script. Results: Using edgeR analysis, 3877 DE genes between B-ALL patients and healthy donors based on TMM (trimmed mean of M-values) normalization method and false discovery rate, FDR less than 0.01, logarithmically transformed fold changes, logFC greater than 2) were identified. IPA revealed abnormal activation of ERBB2, TGFB1 and IL2 transcriptional factors that are crucial for maintaining proliferation and survival potential of leukemic 26 cells. B-ALL specific isoforms were observed for genes with roles in important canonical signaling pathways, such as oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial dysfunction. A mechanistic study with the Nalm 6 cell line revealed that some of these gene isoforms significantly change their expression upon 5-Aza treatment, suggesting that they may be epigenetically regulated in B-ALL. Conclusion: Our data provide new insights and perspectives on the regulation of the transcriptome in B-ALL. In addition, we identified transcript isoforms and pathways that may play key roles in the pathogenesis of B-ALL. These results further our understanding of the transcriptional regulation associated with B-ALL development and will contribute to the development of novel strategies aimed towards improving diagnosis and managing patients with B-ALL. Keywords: B-ALL, RNA-sequencing, differential gene expression, alternative splicing

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Local Field Enhancement On Demand Based On Hybrid Plasmonic Dielectric Directional Coupler

The concept of local field enhancement using conductor- gap-dielectric-substrate (CGDS) waveguide structure is proposed. The dispersion equation is derived analytically and solved numerically. The solution of the dispersion equation reveals the anti-crossing behavior of coupled modes. The optimal gap layer thickness and the coupling length of the guided modes are obtained. The mechanism of the CGDS works as follows: Light waves are guided by conventional low-loss dielectric waveguides and, upon demand, they are transformed into highly confined plasmonic modes with strong local field enhancement, and get transformed back into low-loss dielectric modes. As an example, in a representative CGDS structure, the optimal plasmonic gap size is 17 nm, the local light intensity is found to be more than one order of magnitude stronger than the intensity of the dielectric mode at the film surface. The coupling length is only 2.1 m at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. Such a local field confinement on demand is expected to facilitate efficient light-matter interaction in integrated photonic devices while minimizing losses typical for plasmonic structures

Multimedia Discourse as an Element of Multiculture

Сьогодні з’ясування ступеня впливу мультимедіа недостатньо, оскільки необхідно знаходити відповідь на питання про те, як дискурс мультимедіа як елемент мультикультури в мультисуспільстві («нова електронна культура» – термін М. Кастельса) пов’язаний із трансформацією (зміною) свідомості суспільства. Необхідно аналізувати інмутаційні та мутаційні (терміни О. Холода) зміни у свідомості індивідів, які, певно не підозрюючи цього, здійснюють «тиху зміну» мислетворення людини і за рахунок цього – структури світопорядку. Виникають і інші питання: чи вважати нинішні телевізійні масмедіа провокаційними, таким, що наштовхують суспільство на негативні сценарії поведінки? Чи псує телебачення свідомість суспільства, чи вносить негативні (інмутаційні) зміни в його поведінку, спонукаючи до інмутаційної трансформації свідомості? У пошуках відповіді на поставлені питання здійснено дослідження, мета якого − з’ясувати кореляції факторів «нова електронна культура» й «трансформація свідомості». Today it is not enough to determine the degree of the media influence, as we need to find an answer to the question of how multimedia discourse as an element of multiculture in multisociety (“new electronic culture” – M. Castells’s term) is associated with transformation (change) of consciousness of society. It is necessary to analyze inmutational and mutational (O. Kholod’s terms) changes in the minds of individuals, who, probably, make unintentional “quiet change” of thought creating and thus – the structure of world order. There are other issues: whether to consider the current TV mass media provocative, and pushing society to negative behavior scenarios. Does television spoil public consciousness, or make negative (inmutational) changes in behavior, encouraging inmutational transformation of consciousness? In search of answers to those questions, the study has been carried out, which aimed at finding out the correlation of “new electronic culture” and “the transformation of consciousness” factors

Artificial Intelligence Techniques in E-Commerce: The Possibility of Exploiting them in Saudi Arabia

E-Commerce has transformed business as we know over the past few decades. The rapid increasing use of the Internet and the strong purchasing power in Saudi Arabia have had a strong impact on the evolution of E-Commerce in the country. Saudi Arabia is yet another country that will release artificial intelligence power to fuel its growth in the economic world.  Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) applications that can facilitate e-commerce processes have been widely used. The impact of using artificial intelligence (AI) concepts and techniques on the efficiency of e-commerce, particularly has been overlooked by many prior studies. In this paper, a literature review was conducted to explore and investigate possible applications of AI in E-Commerce that can help Saudi Arabian businesses

Identification of immune-related gene signatures to evaluate immunotherapeutic response in cancer patients using exploratory subgroup discovery

Phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity are characteristic features of cancer patients. To tackle patients[trademark] heterogeneity, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) represent one of the most promising therapeutic approaches. However, approximately 50 percent of cancer patients that are eligible for treatment with ICIs will not respond well, which motivates the exploration of immunotherapy in combination with either targeted treatments or chemotherapy. Over the years, multiple patient stratification techniques have been developed to identify homogenous patient subgroups, although, matching patient subgroup to treatment option that can improve patients[trademark] health outcome remains a challenging task. We extend our exploratory subgroup discovery algorithm to identify patient subpopulations that can potentially benefit from immuno-targeted combination therapies or chemoimmunotherapy in five cancer types: Head and Neck Squamous Carcinoma (HNSC), Lung Adenocarcinoma (LUAD), Lung Squamous Carcinoma (LUSC), Skin Cutaneous Melanoma (SKCM) and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). We employ various regression models to identify immune-related gene signatures and drug targets that increase the likelihood of partial remission on combination therapies, either immunotargeted regimen or chemoimmunotherapy. Moreover, our pipelines can pinpoint adverse drug effects associated with predicted drug combinations. In addition, we uncovered distinct immune cell populations (T-cells, B-cells, Myeloid, NK-cells) for TNBC patients that differentiate patients with partial remission from patients with progressive disease after chemoimmunotherapy. Finally, we incorporate our methodological developments on Mutational Forks Formalism that enable an assessment of patient-specific flow by leveraging information from multiple single-nucleotide alterations to adjust the transitional likelihoods that are solely based on the canonical view of a disease. Our suit of methods can help to better select responders for combination therapies and improve health outcome for cancer patients with limited treatment options.Includes bibliographical references

Radiographic Quality of Single versus Multiple-Visit Root Canal Treatment Performed by Dental Students: A Case Control Study

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the quality of root canal treatment provided by undergraduate dental students in relation to the number of dental visits. Methods and Materials: Root canal treatments done by 77 dental students were observed. For each student, one tooth treated in a single visit was matched and compared with a tooth treated in multiple visits. The effect of preoperative conditions on the quality of root canal treatment and the number of visits were analyzed. The quality of root canal treatment was determined by the following criteria: obturation length, density, taper, and presence of procedural errors. The data were statistically analyzed using an exact conditional logistic regression test, and the level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: There was no statistically significant association between single- and multiple-visit root canal treatment in terms of obturation length (P=0.263), obturation density (P=0.625), and obturation taper (P=1.00). The incidence of procedural errors in teeth which required a single visit (7.8%) was less but not significantly different from those treated in multiple visits (16.9%). The presence of preoperative conditions was not significantly associated with multiple-visit treatment. Conclusion: Within the limitations of the study, multiple-visit treatment was not associated with a better quality of root canal treatment compared to single-visit treatment.Keywords: Case Control; Endodontic Treatment; Multiple Visits; Radiographic Evaluation; Single Visi

Towards an instrument for measuring sensemaking and an assessment of its theoretical features

This paper reports the result of a study that we conducted to develop an instrument for measuring sensemaking and to understand how sensemakers conceptualise the sensemaking that they are doing. To address these aims we conducted a review of how sensemaking is described in the literature and derived a series of features. These were used to construct a questionnaire, which we deployed in an experimental study in which participants performed a sensemaking task. The results help to validate the questionnaire and provide insights into how users think about the experience of sensemaking