Money, credit, and the cyclical behavior of household investment

This paper focuses on a monetary explanation of two business cycle regularities: (i) business and household investment are positively correlated and procyclical and (ii) household investment tends to lead business investment. We construct a general equilibrium framework that explicitly incorporates a credit sector where real resources are employed in the production of costly household and business credit services. Financial intermediaries provide interest bearing accounts to households and loanable funds for credit producers. It is shown that liquidity effects from asymmetric monetary injections to the financial sector increase the availability of consumer and business credit services. The relative strength of these liquidity effects on business and household spending can provide a mechanism which captures both the direction and timing of their corresponding investments expenditures over the cycle. Furthermore, explaining these observations with a household credit channel also resolves some problematic predictions of existing liquidity effect models.Investments

Predicting Continuance Intention toward Mobile Branded Apps through Satisfaction and Attachment

[[abstract]]An increasing number of companies have created branded apps to communicate with and satisfy the needs of target audiences. The interactive features of smartphone apps strengthen the brand–consumer relationship and help consumers develop positive brand attitudes. However, few studies incorporate the brand–consumer relationship into the branded apps context. Through integrating brand attachment into the expectation confirmation model, the current study investigates the antecedents of continuance intention toward branded apps. Data collected from 497 users of MyStarbucks are analyzed by using structural equation modeling. The findings reveal the brand attachment–satisfaction relationship is nonrecursive and that both these factors positively influence continuance intention. Expectation confirmation also influences brand attachment and perceived usefulness. Moreover, perceived usefulness influences continuance intention directly or indirectly through satisfaction. Finally, brand–self congruity influences brand attachment, whereas perceived complementarity influences satisfaction and perceived usefulness.[[notice]]補正完

2-(2H-Benzotriazol-2-yl)-6-[(diethyl­amino)meth­yl]-4-methyl­phenol

In the title compound, C18H22N4O, the dihedral angle between the planes of the benzotriazol unit and the phenyl ring of the phen­oxy group is 6.4 (2)°. There is an intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond between the phenol and benzotriazol groups

Co-Overexpression of Cyclooxygenase-2 and Microsomal Prostaglandin E Synthase-1 Adversely Affects the Postoperative Survival in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

IntroductionCyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and microsomal prostaglandin E synthase (mPGES)-1 have been found to be overexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to investigate the expression profiles of COX-2 and mPGES-1 and their correlation with the clinical characteristics and survival outcomes in patients with resected NSCLC.Methods/ResultsSeventy-nine paired adjacent normal-tumor matched samples were prospectively procured from patients undergoing surgery for NSCLC. The protein levels of COX-2 and mPGES-1 were assessed by Western blot analysis. Overexpression in the tumor sample was defined as more than twofold increase in protein expression compared with the corresponding adjacent normal tissue. Co-overexpression of COX-2 and mPGES-1 were further confirmed by immunohistochemistry. COX-2 was overexpressed in 58% and mPGES-1 in 70% of the tumor samples (p < 0.0001). Co-overexpression of mPGES-1 and COX-2 was noted in 43%, and they were unrelated to each other (p = 0.232). Co-overexpression of both proteins was significantly associated with less tumor differentiation (p = 0.046), tumor size larger than 5 cm (p = 0.038), and worse survival status during the follow-up (p = 0.036). Multivariate analysis showed that in addition to overall stage, co-overexpression of both proteins adversely affected the overall (hazard ratio, 2.40; p = 0.045) and disease-free survivals (hazard ratio, 2.27; p = 0.029).ConclusionsOverexpression of either COX-2 or mPGES-1 is common but unrelated in NSCLC. Co-overexpression of both COX-2 and mPGES-1 adversely affects postoperative overall and disease-free survivals

Predicting the Severity and Prognosis of Trismus after Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Oral Cancer Patients by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

To develop magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicators to predict trismus outcome for post-operative oral cavity cancer patients who received adjuvant intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), 22 patients with oral cancer treated with IMRT were studied over a two-year period. Signal abnormality scores (SA scores) were computed from Likert-type ratings of the abnormalities of nine masticator structures and compared with the Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal–Wallis one-way ANOVA test between groups. Seventeen patients (77.3%) experienced different degrees of trismus during the two-year follow-up period. The SA score correlated with the trismus grade (r = 0.52, p<0.005). Patients having progressive trismus had higher mean doses of radiation to multiple structures, including the masticator and lateral pterygoid muscles, and the parotid gland (p<0.05). In addition, this group also had higher SA-masticator muscle dose product at 6 months and SA scores at 12 months (p<0.05). At the optimum cut-off points of 0.38 for the propensity score, the sensitivity was 100% and the specificity was 93% for predicting the prognosis of the trismus patients. The SA score, as determined using MRI, can reflect the radiation injury and correlate to trismus severity. Together with the radiation dose, it could serve as a useful biomarker to predict the outcome and guide the management of trismus following radiation therapy

Persistence of Japanese Encephalitis Virus Is Associated with Abnormal Expression of the Nonstructural Protein NS1 in Host Cells

AbstractPersistent infection with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) was established in murine neuroblastoma N18 cells, and the persistency has been maintained in cell culture for over 6 months. From the persistently infected cells, a clone named C2-2 was selected and expanded to form a stable cell line. The vast majority of C2-2 cells showed viral protein staining by immunofluorescence and continuously produced low levels of virus (103to 104PFU/ml) without marked cytopathic effects or cyclic variations. In addition to the wild-type viral proteins, truncated forms of the viral nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) as well as its derivative NS1′ were produced in C2-2 cells. Both truncated NS1 and NS1′ contain deletions at their N-termini; however, the analyses by RT–PCR and direct sequencing of the viral RNA failed to detect any truncations or mutations within the NS1 region, suggesting that NS1 truncation was a result of a unique posttranslational proteolytic cleavage of NS1 in the persistently infected cells. Similar but not identical truncation of NS1 was also observed in two other persistently infected cell lines established in Vero and DBT (murine astrocytoma) cells. However, viruses released from C2-2 cells did not produce truncated NS1 upon infection of N18 cells, suggesting that NS1 truncations were the result of virus–cell interaction in persistently infected cells. These data indicate a strong association between abnormal NS1 expression and JEV persistency. A probable involvement of dysfunctional NS1 in the establishment and/or maintenance of JEV persistency in tissue culture is discussed