Foreign Direct Investment in Blantyre, Malawi: Opportunities and Challenges

In 2006, the Earth Institute at Columbia University launched the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI), an urban counterpart to the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), to assist nine mid-sized cities across subSaharan Africa in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MCI provides research and policy analysis in order to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to the cities. Using the investment evaluation framework described in Section I, the authors identified the textile manufacturing sector as having considerable investment potential in Malawi, distinguished by higher impact and feasibility. Investment in this sector is expected to have high positive impacts on employment and productivity, as well as high feasibility measured by demand, supply, enabling market and profitability factors. In addition to textile manufacturing, which is the sole high feasibility-impact sector, the authors identified five medium feasibility-impact sectors. These investment opportunities include the following agricultural value-added products: cassava processing, pigeon pea processing, chili processing, groundnuts processing and macadamia nut processing. Having identified opportunities for investment, the authors also evaluated constraints hampering the growth of each industry and set forth recommendations for MCI with a view to encouraging FDI in the High Feasibility-Impact sectors and alleviating constraints that hamper growth in these sectors

繊維集合体における微小面積部分の配色に関する研究(第4報) : 2色杢糸における色の見分けとメランジ配色の効果

Color discrimination and desirable melange effect in the colored two-ply yarns were assessed by 20 observers in visual testing the seriplanes of the plied two-colored yarns together with the dyed single yarns of three primary colors and of 12 vivid colors, respectively, which were carefully prepared after color-matching with the color cards of vivid tone on the color ring of PCCS (Practical Color Coordinate System). The results of the color discrimination and desirable color combinations were discussed in the relation to color differences between the two colors in the ply yarns. It was necessary for desirable melange color effect of the two colored ply yarns to select medium hue contrast combination. High hue contrast combination to be consequently high color differences between the two colored yarns led the color discrimination to improve, while it also led the desirable melange effect to change for the worse. The result of the desirable color effects in the colored yarns was different from that in the colored fiber assemblies previously reported, due to size as a visual object

A radioprotective agonist for p53 transactivation

Inhibiting p53-dependent apoptosis by inhibitors of p53 is an effective strategy for preventing radiation-induced damage in hematopoietic lineages, while p53 and p21 also play radioprotective roles in the gastrointestinal epithelium. We previously identified some zinc(II) chelators, including 8-quinolinol derivatives that suppress apoptosis in attempts to discover compounds that target the zinc-binding site in p53. We found that 5-chloro-8-quinolinol (5CHQ) has a unique p53-modulating activity that shifts its transactivation from proapoptotic to protective responses including enhancing p21 induction and suppressing PUMA induction. This p53-modulating activity also influenced p53 and p53-target gene expression in unirradiated cells without inducing DNA damage. The specificity of 5CHQ for p53 and p21 was demonstrated by silencing the expression of each protein. These effects seems to be attributable to the sequence-specific alteration of p53 DNA-binding, as evaluated by chromatin immunoprecipitation and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. In addition, 5-chloro-8-methoxyquinoline itself had no antiapoptotic activity, indicating that the hydroxyl group at the 8-position is required for its antiapoptotic activity. We applied this remarkable agonistic activity to protecting the hematopoietic and gastrointestinal system in mouse irradiation models. The dose-reduction factors of 5CHQ in total-body and abdominally irradiated mice were about 1.2 and 1.3, respectively. 5CHQ effectively protected mouse epithelial stem cells from a lethal dose of abdominal irradiation. Furthermore, the specificity of 5CHQ for p53 in reducing the lethality induced by abdominal irradiation was revealed in Trp53-KO mice. These results indicate that the pharmacological upregulation of radioprotective p53-target genes is an effective strategy for addressing the gastrointestinal syndrome

Matrix metalloproteinase-2 degrades fibrillin-1 and fibrillin-2 of oxytalan fibers in the human eye and periodontal ligaments in vitro.

Oxytalan fibers are distributed in the eye and periodontal ligaments (PDL). The ciliary zonule, known as Zinn\u27s zonule, in the eye is composed of oxytalan fibers, which are bundles of microfibrils consisting mainly of fibrillin-1 and fibrillin-2. As turnover of oxytalan fibers is slow during life, their degradation mechanism remains unclarified. This study was performed to examine degradation pattern of fibrillin-1 and fibrillin-2 by experimental MMP activation. We cultured human non-pigmented ciliary epithelial cells (HNPCEC) and PDL fibroblasts for 7 days, then treated them with concanavalin A to activate matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, and examined the degradation of fibrillin-1 and fibrillin-2 for 72 hr using immunofluorescence. At 7 days of HNPCEC culture, fibrillin-1-positive fibers were observed, some of which merged with fibrillin-2. After MMP-2 activation, fibrillin-1-positive fibers became thin and disappeared by 72 hr, while fibrillin-2-positive fibers disappeared almost completely within 24 hr. At 7 days of PDL fibroblast culture, fibrillin-1-positive fibers were mostly merged with fibrillin-2. After MMP-2 activation, fibrillin-1-positive fibers became thin by 24 hr and had almost disappeared by 48 hr, while fibrillin-2-positive fibers decreased constantly after 24 hr. A MMP-2 inhibitor completely suppressed these degradations. These results suggest that the patterns of fibrillin-1 and fibrillin-2 degradation differ between the eye and the PDL, possibly reflecting the sensitivity of fibrillin-1 and fibrillin-2 of each type of oxytalan fiber against MMP-2.福岡歯科大学2014年

Paradoxical effects of chondroitin sulfate-E on Japanese encephalitis viral infection

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) have diverse functions in the body and are involved in viral infection. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible roles of the E-disaccharide units GlcAβ1-3GalNAc(4,6-O-disulfate) of chondroitin sulfate (CS), a GAG involved in neuritogenesis and neuronal migration, in Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection. Soluble CS-E (sCS-E) derived from squid cartilage inhibited JEV infection in African green monkey kidney-derived Vero cells and baby hamster kidney-derived BHK cells by interfering with viral attachment. In contrast, sCS-E enhanced viral infection in the mouse neuroblastoma cell line Neuro-2a, despite the fact that viral attachment to Neuro-2a cells was inhibited by sCS-E. This enhancement effect in Neuro-2a cells seemed to be related to increased viral RNA replication and was also observed in a rat infection model in which intracerebral coadministration of sCS-E with JEV in 17-day-old rats resulted in higher brain viral loads than in rats infected without sCS-E administration. These results show the paradoxical effects of sCS-E on JEV infection in different cell types and indicate that potential use of sCS-E as an antiviral agent against JEV infection should be approached with caution considering its effects in the neuron, the major target of JEV

Chromium–niobium co-doped vanadium dioxide films: Large temperature coefficient of resistance and practically no thermal hysteresis of the metal–insulator transition

We investigated the effects of chromium (Cr) and niobium (Nb) co-doping on the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and the thermal hysteresis of the metal–insulator transition of vanadium dioxide (VO2) films. We determined the TCR and thermal-hysteresis-width diagram of the V1−x−yCrxNbyO2 films by electrical-transport measurements and we found that the doping conditions x ≳ y and x + y ≥ 0.1 are appropriate for simultaneously realizing a large TCR value and an absence of thermal hysteresis in the films. By using these findings, we developed a V0.90Cr0.06Nb0.04O2 film grown on a TiO2-buffered SiO2/Si substrate that showed practically no thermal hysteresis while retaining a large TCR of 11.9%/K. This study has potential applications in the development of VO2-based uncooled bolometers