Status and Multiple Growth Regimes

In order to explain multiple growth regimes, one of the working hypotheses is based on initial conditions. Using a standard optimal growth with the status effect represented by wealth a la Friedman (1953), this paper obtains multiple growth regimes based on initial conditions without reliance on other assumptions such as nonlinearities of production or consumption functions and heterogeneous agents/savings behavior. With the status effect, the resulting equilibrium distribution is characterized by a group with a lower level of income and another group with a higher level of income. Globally, a sufficiently strong monetary policy may be an instrument in order for an economy in poverty traps to take off and become wealthy in the long run. Locally, our model sheds light on the relationship between money/inflation and capital in the long run that, given general cash-in-advance constraints on investment relative to consumption, is determined by the curvature of the utilities of wealth and consumption.one-sector growth model, wealth effect, CIA constraint, takeoff

Inflation and Growth: Impatience and a Qualitative Equivalence

This paper studies the role of an endogenous time preference on the relationship between inflation and growth in the long run in both the money-in-utility-function (MIUF) and transaction costs (TC) models. We establish a qualitative equivalence between the two models in a setup without a labor-leisure tradeoff. When the time preference is decreasing (or increasing) in consumption and real balances, both the MIUF and TC models are qualitatively equivalent in terms of predicting a negative (or positive) relationship between inflation and growth in a steady state. Both a decreasing and an increasing time preference in consumption are consistent with the arguments in the literature. While a decreasing time preference in real balances corroborates with empirical evidence, there is no evidence in support of an increasing time preference in real balances.endogenous time preferences, superneutrality, qualitative equivalence

Internationalization propensity in family-controlled public firms in emerging markets: The effects of family ownership, governance, and top management team heterogeneity

Internationalization propensity is a growing issue faced by family firms. This study contributes to the family business literature by developing a conceptual framework that can identify the family and managerial determinants that affect the extensiveness of internationalization. Drawing on the socioemotional wealth and upper echelon perspectives, it empirically examines the association among family heterogeneity (i.e., family participation is heterogeneous in terms of ownership and governance oversight), top management team (TMT) heterogeneity (i.e., the TMT’s background is heterogeneous in terms of its overseas education and industry experience), and internationalization propensity in publicly traded enterprises. The analysis of data collected from 105 public firms in Taiwan shows that active family participation in ownership and governance oversight and TMT overseas industry experience heterogeneity are significantly and positively associated with internationalization propensity. However, family ownership is found to be significantly but negatively associated with internationalization propensity. We finally discuss the implications of the presented findings for practitioners and organizational theorists

Association of Serum Phosphate and Related Factors in ESRD-Related Vascular Calcification

Vascular calcification is common in ESRD patients and is important in increasing mortality from cardiovascular complications in these patients. Hyperphosphatemia related to chronic kidney disease is increasingly known as major stimulus for vascular calcification. Hyperphosphatemia and vascular calcification become popular discussion among nephrologist environment more than five decades, and many researches have been evolved. Risk factors for calcification are nowadays focused for the therapeutic prevention of vascular calcification with the hope of reducing cardiovascular complications

Effects of Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San on the Peripheral and Lymphatic Pharmacokinetics of Paclitaxel in Rats

Paclitaxel is effective against breast cancer. The herbal medicine, Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San (JWXYS), is the most frequent prescription used to relieve the symptoms of breast cancer treatments. The aim of the study was to investigate the herb-drug interaction effects of a herbal medicine on the distribution of paclitaxel to lymph. A validated ultraperformance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was used to determine the paclitaxel levels in rat plasma and lymph after intravenous infusion of paclitaxel alone with or without 7 days of JWXYS pretreatment. The pharmacokinetic results indicate that paclitaxel concentrations in plasma exceeded those in lymph by approximately 3.6-fold. The biodistribution of paclitaxel from plasma to lymph was 39±5%; however, this increased to 45±4% with JWXYS pretreatment. With JWXYS pretreatment, the AUC and Cmax of paclitaxel in plasma were significantly reduced by approximately 1.5-fold, compared to paclitaxel alone. Additionally, JWXYS decreased the AUC and Cmax of paclitaxel in lymph. However, the lymph absorption rate of paclitaxel with or without JWXYS pretreatment was not significantly changed (27±3 and 30±2%, resp.). Our findings demonstrate that when paclitaxel is prescribed concurrently with herbal medicine, monitoring of the blood pharmacokinetics of paclitaxel is recommended

The relationships among Taiwanese youth’s polychronicity, multitasking behavior and perceived learning performance in online learning

BackgroundThe advancement of digital technology implies the importance of polychronic learning. Since polychronicity is not equivalent to multitasking behavior, they need to be considered separately. However, less research has been explored on how polychronicity is related to multitasking behavior in the educational field.ObjectiveTo explore the relationships among polychronicity, multitasking behavior and learning performance (including knowledge acquisition and learning satisfaction) in an online learning environment.MethodsThe relationship among variables was analyzed from 865 responses obtained from a questionnaire survey, and independent sample t tests and SEM analysis were used to examine the research hypotheses.ResultsCollege students showed a higher frequency of multitasking behavior, time tangibility and scheduling preference, and learning satisfaction in multitasking online learning environments than high school students. Additionally, college students were different from high school students on the paths of involvement with people to multitasking behavior (Δ χ2= 5.42, p = 0.02) and scheduling preference to learning satisfaction (Δχ2 = 9.54, p = 0.002).ConclusionThe relationship among polychronicity, multitasking behavior and perceived learning performance in an online learning environment varies by student educational stage

Comparative global immune-related gene profiling of somatic cells, human pluripotent stem cells and their derivatives: implication for human lymphocyte proliferation.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced PSCs (iPSCs), represent potentially unlimited cell sources for clinical applications. Previous studies have suggested that hPSCs may benefit from immune privilege and limited immunogenicity, as reflected by the reduced expression of major histocompatibility complex class-related molecules. Here we investigated the global immune-related gene expression profiles of human ESCs, hiPSCs and somatic cells and identified candidate immune-related genes that may alter their immunogenicity. The expression levels of global immune-related genes were determined by comparing undifferentiated and differentiated stem cells and three types of human somatic cells: dermal papilla cells, ovarian granulosa cells and foreskin fibroblast cells. We identified the differentially expressed genes CD24, GATA3, PROM1, THBS2, LY96, IFIT3, CXCR4, IL1R1, FGFR3, IDO1 and KDR, which overlapped with selected immune-related gene lists. In further analyses, mammalian target of rapamycin complex (mTOR) signaling was investigated in the differentiated stem cells following treatment with rapamycin and lentiviral transduction with specific short-hairpin RNAs. We found that the inhibition of mTOR signal pathways significantly downregulated the immunogenicity of differentiated stem cells. We also tested the immune responses induced in differentiated stem cells by mixed lymphocyte reactions. We found that CD24- and GATA3-deficient differentiated stem cells including neural lineage cells had limited abilities to activate human lymphocytes. By analyzing the transcriptome signature of immune-related genes, we observed a tendency of the hPSCs to differentiate toward an immune cell phenotype. Taken together, these data identify candidate immune-related genes that might constitute valuable targets for clinical applications

Discovery of New Eunicellins from an Indonesian Octocoral Cladiella sp.

Two new 11-hydroxyeunicellin diterpenoids, cladieunicellin F (1) and (–)-solenopodin C (2), were isolated from an Indonesian octocoral Cladiella sp. The structures of eunicellins 1 and 2 were established by spectroscopic methods, and eunicellin 2 was found to be an enantiomer of the known eunicellin solenopodin C (3). Eunicellin 2 displayed inhibitory effects on the generation of superoxide anion and the release of elastase by human neutrophils. The previously reported structures of two eunicellin-based compounds, cladielloides A and B, are corrected in this study

Excavatoids O and P, New 12-Hydroxybriaranes from the Octocoral Briareum excavatum

Two new 12-hydroxybriarane diterpenoids, designated as excavatoids O (1) and P (2), were isolated from the octocoral Briareum excavatum. The structures of briaranes 1 and 2 were established on the basis of extensive spectral data analysis. Excavatoid P (2) is the first metabolite which possesses a 6β -chlorine atom in briarane analogues