Contagion of the Eurozone Debt Crisis

This paper examines the contagion of the eurozone debt crisis to developed and emerging stock markets around the world. Using the VAR methodology, and changes in sovereign bond yields and stock returns of the crisis countries as proxies for the eurozone debt crisis, this paper finds strong and pervasive evidence of negative contagion from the crisis countries to other stock markets. Consistent with risk-on risk-off hypothesis, changes in sovereign bond yields of crisis countries impact stock returns positively during normal times and negatively during the crisis, providing strong evidence of negative contagion. The impact of equity returns of crisis countries on other equity markets is large and positive during normal times and less positive during the crisis, suggesting evidence of negative contagion and decoupling of stock markets during the crisis. The Asian markets do not show pervasive evidence of contagion from the eurozone crisis

Factors Affecting Private Sector Bankers’ Job Satisfaction in Sri Lanka: A Case Study

Job satisfaction is a positive and a delighted feeling of the employees’ job or work roles that they are currently dealing with. This emotion has an inspiring nature which is closely related with individual’s behavior in the workplace. Banking sector is one of the sectors in Sri Lanka which makes a significant impact and contribution on community, society and the development of the economy of the country. It comprises of state and private banks, currently facing an intense competition. Every bank tries to ensure their quality service to customers. Job satisfaction of bankers is directly linked with service quality. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting employees’ job satisfaction level in private banking sector with special reference to Union Bank. Also the research was designed to identify the most significant factor which affects job satisfaction and to identify differences of job satisfaction level in different demographic groups. The independent variables of the study were pay, promotion and working conditions. The demographic groups considered based on gender, employment type and experience. A deductive approach was followed with quantitative data. Data was collected by using a questionnaire and it was done within a particular time period, the study was cross sectional in nature. Stratified sampling method was used, selected 200 employees. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics, correlation, regression and t-test and ANOVA were used. The results of the study showed that job satisfaction is strongly and positively correlated with working conditions and moderately positively correlated with pay, promotion. The most significant factor which affects job satisfaction was working conditions. A significant difference of job satisfaction level was observed only among groups with different experience levels. No significant differences of job satisfaction level were observed in different demographic groups based on gender and employment type. The findings contribute to the human resource practitioners at Union bank to develop human resource strategies in such a way it increases job satisfaction of bankers. Keywords: Banking sector, Job satisfaction, Pay, Promotion, Working condition

Estimation of Total Carbohydrate Content in Aqueous Extract of Sri Lankan Marine Algae Chnoospora minima

Marine organisms are rich in bioactive compounds such as polysaccharides, polyunsaturated fatty acids and polyphenols. These macromolecules possess anticoagulant, antiviral, antioxidant, anticancer and immunomodulatory activities. The present study was carried out to determine the total carbohydrates present in the extract of marine algae Chnoospora minima (Family: Scytosiphonaceae). Phenol-sulfuric method was used to estimate the total carbohydrate content. This method detects virtually all classes of carbohydrates, including mono-, di-, oligo-, and polysaccharides. Absorbance was measured at 490 nm with different concentrations of working standard of glucose solution (0, 0.020, 0.040, 0.060, 0.080, 0.10 and 0.023 mg/L mL) and the algal sample, followed by the addition of 5% phenol and 96% sulphuric acid. Resulted total carbohydrate content of the sample C. minima was 22.5 mg/kg. This high amount of carbohydrate content in C. minima reveal its potential to develop polysaccharide-based drugs following assessment of its anti-cancer activities.Keywords: Choonospora minima, Polysachcharides, Phenol-sulphuric method, anti-cancer activit

In Vitro Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Polysaccharide Fraction of Green Seaweed Codium fragile Extract (Suringar, 1867)

Marine seaweeds are a renewable source that possess different biological activities. The current study investigated the total phenolic and flavonoid contents and selected biological activites of the polysaccharide fraction of methanol crude from Codium fragile (Family: Codiaceae). Dried seaweed was extracted with 70% methanol and the polysaccharide fraction was separated. Total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid (TFC) contents were determined using standard methods. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using albumin (protein) denaturation, trypsin (proteinase) inhibitory and membrane stabilisation assays, while antioxidant activity was conducted using DPPH radical scavenging assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. TPC, TFC values were 21.01±0.90 μg GE/g, 24.14±4.50 μg QE/g, respectively. Ferric ion reducing power recorded as 10.84±0.58 μg TE/g and IC50 value of DPPH radical scavenging activity was 1685.3±4.4 μg/ml and less effective than Trolox standard (IC50=10.4±0.4 μg/ml). IC50 values of albumin (protein) denaturation was 506.2±1.8 μg/ml and less effective than Aspirin standard (29.3±0.5 μg/ml). Anti-inflammatory potential according to the trypsin (proteinase) inhibitory assay and membrane stabilisation assay were 65.4±0.4 μg/ml and 3027.6±4.7 μg/ml, respectively and these values were less effective than that of diclofenac sodium standard (IC50=14.2±0.5 μg/ml). According to the results, the polysaccharide portion showed a potent anti-inflammatory activity compared to antioxidant properties. Hence further investigations on anti-inflammatory properties and isolation of active compounds are warranted.Keywords: Codium fragile, Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory, Polysaccharide, Green alga

GC-MS Profiling of Bioactive Compounds Inphenolic Extract of Chnoospora minima (Hering 1841)

Seaweeds, rich in bioactive compounds is important in development of drug leads and nutraceuticals. Brown algae is known for their rich bioactive compounds with numerous biological activities. However, Sri Lankan marine algae are underexploited. Hence, the present study aimed to determine the bioactive compounds present in different fractions (hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate) of phenolic rich methanol extract of a Sri Lankan brown algae Choonospora minima for the first time. De-polysaccharide methanolic extract of C. minima was partitioned with hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate with increasing polarity. The GC-MS analysis was performed two times for the same fraction using an Agilent Technologies gas chromatograph model 5975C and HP-5MS capillary column to increase the reliability of the results obtained. Maximum number of active compounds were identified in ethyl acetate fraction of C. minima; alkenes, phenolic compounds, ketones, thiophene derivatives and benzene-carboxylic acids. Among them, most of the compounds possess antioxidants(7,9-di-tert-butyl-1-oxaspiro(4,5)deca-6,9-diene-2,8-dione and 3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-hydroxy octadecyl ester), anti-diabetic (2-phenylthiophene), anti-microbial (2-Tetradecene, Phenol,2,5-bis (1,1-dimethylethyl) and 1-Hexadecene) and anti-cancer (1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid mono (2-ethylhexyl) ester and 1-nonadecene) activities.Whereas in chloroform and hexane fractions, four compounds (dodecanoic acid methyl ester,diethyl phthalate, methyl tetra-decanoate and hexadecanoic acid. methyl ester) was identified as common which exhibit antioxidant, cytotoxic and anti-diabetic activities. Methyl esters (9,12-octadecadienoic acid. methyl ester, octadecanoic acid. methyl ester and 9-octadecanoic acid. methyl ester) are abundant in chloroform fraction, exhibit antioxidant, anti-diabetic and cytotoxic effects. The GC-MS profiling data concluded that bioactive compounds present in fractions of C. minima play a significant role in medicine. Hence, isolation of active compounds from bioactivity guided fractionation is warranted.Keywords: Choonospora minima, Hexane fraction, Chloroform fraction, Ethyl acetate fraction, GC-M

TGF-β1-Induced Expression of the Poor Prognosis SERPINE1/PAI-1 Gene Requires EGFR Signaling: A New Target for Anti-EGFR Therapy

Increased transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) expression and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) amplification accompany the emergence of highly aggressive human carcinomas. Cooperative signaling between these two growth factor/receptor systems promotes cell migration and synthesis of stromal remodeling factors (i.e., proteases, protease inhibitors) that, in turn, regulate tumor invasion, neo-angiogenesis and inflammation. ranscript profiling of transformed human cells revealed that genes encoding wound healing, matrix remodeling and cell cycle proteins (i.e., the “tissue repair” transcriptome) are significantly up-regulated early after growth factor stimulation. The major inhibitor of plasmin generation, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), is among the most highly induced transcripts during the phenotypic transition initiated by TGF-β maximal expression requires EGFR signaling. PAI-1 induction occurs early in the progression of incipient epidermal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and is a significant indicator of poor prognosis in epithelial malignancies. Mouse modeling and molecular genetic analysis of complex systems indicates that PAI-1 regulates the temporal/spatial control of pericellular proteolysis, promotes epithelial plasticity, inhibits capillary regression and facilitates stromal invasion. Defining TGF-β1-initiated signaling events that cooperate with an activated EGFR to impact the protease-protease inhibitor balance in the tumor microenvironment is critical to the development of novel therapies for the clinical management of human cancers

In-vitro Antidiabetic Properties of Methanol Extract and Its Fractions of Sri Lankan Marine Red algae Gracillaria edulis (Gmelin) Silva

Seaweeds are an important source of bioactive metabolites in drug development and nutraceuticals. Therefore, present study aimed to investigate in-vitro antidiabetic activities of methanol extract and its solvent fractions of Sri Lankan marine red algae, Gracillaria edulis (Gmelin) Silva (Family: Gracilariaceae). De-polysaccharide methanolic extract of G. edulis was partitioned with hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate respectively. In-vitro antidiabetic activity was evaluated in crude methanol extract, hexane, chloroform (CH), ethyl acetate (EA) and aqueous (AQ) fractions of G. edulis. The α-amylase inhibitory activity was determined using the 3, 5 dinitrosalicylic acid method and anti-glycation activity was performed using glucose-induced protein glycation and formation of protein-bound fluorescent advanced glycation end products (AGEs). The highest alpha amylase inhibitory activity was reported in methanol extract with IC50 value of 170.45±1.17 μg/ml and the % inhibition varied from 54.13% (200 μg/ml) to 16.26% (6.25 μg/ml). The IC50 values of amylase inhibitory activities of hexane, CH, EA and AQ fractions of G. edulis were 393.04±4.73 μg/ml, 322.71±4.80 μg/ml, 279.48±5.62 μg/ml and 376.49±12.14 μg/ml respectively. Results showed a significant (p<0.05) difference of IC50 values between methanol extraction, chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions. The highest anti-glycation activity was reported in CH fraction of G. edulis with IC50 value of 258.23±3.24 μg/ml compared to methanol extract (IC50:702.33±12.72 μg/ml). The % inhibition of CH fraction varied from 83.88% (800 μg/ml) to 13.84% (25 μg/ml). The IC50 values of anti-glycation activity of hexane, EA and AQ fractions were 637.53±6.21 μg/ml, 586.54±4.37 μg/ml and 723.78±12.81 μg/ml respectively. Results showed a significant difference of IC50 values of hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions (p<0.05). In conclusion, methanol extraction of G. edulis and its fractions showed alpha amylase and anti glycation activity with varying degrees of potentials. Among them methanol extract showed comparatively high alpha amylase inhibition while chloroform fraction showed high capability of preventing the formation of AGE products. Hence, isolation of active compounds from methanol extract and chloroform fraction is warranted.Keywords: Gracillaria edulis, Alpha amylase, Anti-glycationAcknowledgement: Financial assistances under the research grant ASP/01/RE/SCI/2017/50

Redox-Induced Src Kinase and Caveolin-1 Signaling in TGF-β1-Initiated SMAD2/3 Activation and PAI-1 Expression

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), a major regulator of the plasmin-based pericellular proteolytic cascade, is significantly increased in human arterial plaques contributing to vessel fibrosis, arteriosclerosis and thrombosis, particularly in the context of elevated tissue TGF-β1. Identification of molecular events underlying to PAI-1 induction in response to TGF-β1 may yield novel targets for the therapy of cardiovascular disease.Reactive oxygen species are generated within 5 minutes after addition of TGF-β1 to quiescent vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) resulting in pp60(c-src) activation and PAI-1 expression. TGF-β1-stimulated Src kinase signaling sustained the duration (but not the initiation) of SMAD3 phosphorylation in VSMC by reducing the levels of PPM1A, a recently identified C-terminal SMAD2/3 phosphatase, thereby maintaining SMAD2/3 in an active state with retention of PAI-1 transcription. The markedly increased PPM1A levels in triple Src kinase (c-Src, Yes, Fyn)-null fibroblasts are consistent with reductions in both SMAD3 phosphorylation and PAI-1 expression in response to TGF-β1 compared to wild-type cells. Activation of the Rho-ROCK pathway was mediated by Src kinases and required for PAI-1 induction in TGF-β1-stimulated VSMCs. Inhibition of Rho-ROCK signaling blocked the TGF-β1-mediated decrease in nuclear PPM1A content and effectively attenuated PAI-1 expression. TGF-β1-induced PAI-1 expression was undetectable in caveolin-1-null cells, correlating with the reduced Rho-GTP loading and SMAD2/3 phosphorylation evident in TGF-β1-treated caveolin-1-deficient cells relative to their wild-type counterparts. Src kinases, moreover, were critical upstream effectors of caveolin-1(Y14) phosphoryation and initiation of downstream signaling.TGF-β1-initiated Src-dependent caveolin-1(Y14) phosphorylation is a critical event in Rho-ROCK-mediated suppression of nuclear PPM1A levels maintaining, thereby, SMAD2/3-dependent transcription of the PAI-1 gene