Fuel Savings and Emission Reductions from Next-Generation Mobile Air Conditioning Technology in India: Preprint

This paper quantifies the mobile air-conditioning fuel consumption of the typical Indian vehicle, exploring potential fuel savings and emissions reductions these systems for the next generation of vehicles

Less Engagement in Pleasure Activities is associated with poorer quality of life for Veterans with Comorbid Post-Deployment Conditions

Objective: The presence of multiple comorbid conditions is common after combat deployment and complicates treatment. A potential treatment approach is to target shared mechanisms across conditions that maintain poorer health-related quality of life (HRQOL). One such mechanism may be decrements in pleasurable activities. Impairment in pleasurable activities frequently occurs after deployment and may be associated with poorer HRQOL. Method: In this brief report, we surveyed 126 Veterans who had previously sought an assessment at a Veterans Affairs post-deployment health clinic and assessed pleasurable activities, HRQOL, and post-deployment health symptoms. Results: Forty-three percent of Veterans met our criteria for all three post-deployment conditions (PTSD, depression and chronic wide-spread physical symptoms). Greater engagement in pleasurable activities was associated with better HRQOL for all Veterans regardless of type or level of post-deployment health symptoms. Conclusion: Future research should study if interventions that encourage Veterans with post-deployment health conditions to engage in pleasurable activities are effective rehabilitation strategies

Current role of radiation therapy for multiple myeloma

BACKGROUND: Radiation therapy (RT) is a treatment modality traditionally used in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), but little is known regarding the role and effectiveness of RT in the era of novel agents, i.e., immunomodulatory drugs and proteasome inhibitors. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data from 449 consecutive MM patients seen at our institute in 2010-2012 to assess indications for RT as well as its effectiveness. Pain response was scored similarly to RTOG 0631 and used the Numerical Rating Pain Scale. RESULTS: Among 442 evaluable patients, 149 (34%) patients and 262 sites received RT. The most common indication for RT was palliation of bone pain (n = 109, 42%), followed by prevention/treatment of pathological fractures (n = 73, 28%), spinal cord compression (n = 26, 10%), and involvement of vital organs/extramedullary disease (n = 25, 10%). Of the 55 patients evaluable for pain relief, complete and partial responses were obtained in 76.4 and 7.2%, respectively. Prior RT did not significantly decrease the median number of peripheral blood stem cells collected for autologous transplant, even when prior RT was given to both the spine and pelvis. Inadequacy of stem cell collection for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) was not significantly different and it occurred in 9 and 15% of patients receiving no RT and spine/pelvic RT, respectively. None of the three cases of therapy-induced acute myelogenous leukemia/MDS occurred in the RT group. CONCLUSION: Despite the introduction of novel effective agents in the treatment of MM, RT remains a major therapeutic component for the management in 34% of patients, and it effectively provides pain relief while not interfering with successful peripheral blood stem cell collection for ASCT

The impacts of corruption on firm performance: some lessons from 40 African countries

The current evidence-base regarding the impacts of corruption on firm performance is based largely on studies of individual countries and contains mixed results. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to achieve a better insight into this relationship by reporting the results of a firm-level analysis of the impacts of corruption on firm performance using World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data across 40 African countries. The clear result is that corruption significantly enhances rather than harms annual sales, employment and productivity growth rates. The outcome is to re-theorize participation in acts of corruption as beneficial for the individual firms engaged in such activity, while recognizing the wider evidence that this is not an optimal strategy at the aggregate country level. The outcome will be to advance knowledge about how corruption needs to be tackled. To eliminate corruption, it is shown here to be necessary for public authorities to recognize that corruption is an efficient strategy at the firm level and to adopt measures to alter the cost/benefit ratio confronting individual enterprises, and at the same time, to address the country-level formal institutional deficiencies that characterize many developing countries and result in the prevalence of corruption

Business Registration and Firm Performance: Some Lessons From India

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impacts on future firm performance of a firm deciding to register from the outset of its operations. Until now, the assumption has been that starting up registered is linked to higher future firm performance. Reporting World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data collected in 2014 on 9,281 formal enterprises in India, and controlling for other determinants of firm performance as well as the endogeneity of the registration decision, the finding is that formal enterprises that start up unregistered and spend longer unregistered have significantly higher subsequent annual sales and employment growth rates compared with those registered from the outset. When the number of years spent unregistered is included, there are also productivity gains from delaying registration. The tentative explanation is that in this weak institutional environment, the advantages of registering from the outset are outweighed by the benefits of deferring registration. Evaluating the policy implications, the argument is that there is a need to shift away from the conventional eradication approach toward unregistered startups based on the assumption they are unproductive, and toward a more facilitating approach that improves the benefits of being registered and tackles the systemic formal institutional deficiencies that lead entrepreneurs to delay their decision to register

Human Skeletal myopathy myosin mutations disrupt myosin head sequestration

Myosin heavy chains encoded by MYH7 and MYH2 are abundant in human skeletal muscle, and important for muscle contraction. However, it is unclear how mutations in these genes disrupt myosin structure and function leading to skeletal muscle myopathies termed myosinopathies. Here, we used multiple approaches to analyse the effects of common MYH7 and MYH2 mutations in the light meromyosin region of myosin (LMM). Analyses of expressed and purified MYH7 and MYH2 LMM mutant proteins combined with in-silico modelling showed that myosin coiled-coil structure and packing of filaments in vitro are commonly disrupted. Using muscle biopsies from patients, and Mant-ATP chase protocols to estimate the proportion of myosin heads that were super-relaxed, together with X-ray diffraction measurements to estimate myosin head order we found that basal myosin ATP consumption was increased and the myosin super-relaxed state was decreased in vivo. In addition, myofibre mechanics experiments to investigate contractile function showed myofibre contractility was not affected. These findings indicate that the structural remodelling associated with LMM mutations induces a pathogenic state in which formation of shutdown heads is impaired, thus increasing myosin head ATP demand in the filaments, rather than affecting contractility. These key findings will help design future therapies for myosinopathies

Biochemical adaptations of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium support a metabolic ecosystem in the vertebrate eye

Here we report multiple lines of evidence for a comprehensive model of energy metabolism in the vertebrate eye. Metabolic flux, locations of key enzymes, and our finding that glucose enters mouse and zebrafish retinas mostly through photoreceptors support a conceptually new model for retinal metabolism. In this model, glucose from the choroidal blood passes through the retinal pigment epithelium to the retina where photoreceptors convert it to lactate. Photoreceptors then export the lactate as fuel for the retinal pigment epithelium and for neighboring Mu ̈ ller glial cells. We used human retinal epithelial cells to show that lactate can suppress consumption of glucose by the retinal pigment epithelium. Suppression of glucose consumption in the retinal pigment epithelium can increase the amount of glucose that reaches the retina. This framework for understanding metabolic relationships in the vertebrate retina provides new insights into the underlying causes of retinal disease and age-related vision loss

The Complexity of Marriage in Rural Ethiopia: Parental Transfers and Postmarital Residence Choices

This paper examines the relationship between parental transfers and post-marital residence of children in rural Ethiopia. We investigate whether asset transfers to children are an avenue which parents use to secure old age. We model post-marital residence and transfers simultaneously in a two-stage probit least squares estimation framework. We find a positive relationship between transfers and post-marital residence, a 10 proxy for old age support. Children who receive more assets are more likely to stay at birth place after marriage and vice versa. In conditions of scarce or lacking social security mechanisms, parents make strategic transfers to ensure better old age

Preparation of Mouse Monoclonal Antibody for RB1CC1 and Its Clinical Application

RB1-inducible coiled-coil 1 (RB1CC1; also known as FIP200) plays important roles in several biological pathways such as cell proliferation and autophagy. Evaluation of RB1CC1 expression can provide useful clinical information on various cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. In order to realize the clinical applications, it is necessary to establish a stable supply of antibody and reproducible procedures for the laboratory examinations. In the present study, we have generated mouse monoclonal antibodies for RB1CC1, and four kinds of antibodies (N1-8, N1-216, N3-2, and N3-42) were found to be optimal for clinical applications such as ELISA and immunoblots and work as well as the pre-existing polyclonal antibodies. N1-8 monoclonal antibody provided the best recognition of RB1CC1 in the clinico-pathological examination of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. These monoclonal antibodies will help to generate new opportunities in scientific examinations in biology and clinical medicine