Research on the Foreign Direct Investment Factors of Japanese Hotel Industry in Taiwan-Taking Okura Hotel as an Example

Due to the impact of COVID-19 in 2019, the global hotel industry has been severely impacted by the disconnection of the tourism industry. However, even with the impact of the epidemic, the Japanese hotel industry’s investment in Taiwan has not stopped. What are the factors that drive the Japanese hotel industry to defy the threat of the epidemic and choose Taiwan as its destination for foreign direct investment? This is the research goal of this article. This article intends to adopt Push-Pull-Mooring (PPM)migration theory to construct the possible factors of why the Japanese hotel industry chooses Taiwan as its foreign direct investment destination. These factors consist of three effects to describe Japan Okura hotel’s migration. First, the push effect refers to factors that induce people to leave their place of origin. Second, the pull effect refers to factors that attract people to a destination. Third, the mooring effect refers to intervention variables for push and pull effects that facilitate or inhibit the determination of movement. The finding is that push and pull factors still play an active role in promoting Okura Hotel’s investment in Taiwan, even if the influence of some factors is slightly reduced due to the shift in international conditions. With the development of globalization and high technology, mooring factors are no longer the reason that hinders Japanese Okura’s investment in Taiwan. Combined with push and pull factors, PPM migration model can fully explain why the Japanese hotel industry chooses to conduct foreign direct investment in Taiwan, even if it is affected by COVID-19.It’s just that COVID-19 has not stopped so far, and the unstable situation on both sides of the strait may impact the original PPM model and affect the results of the analysis. It is worth further observation and research by subsequent researchers

Thermodynamic characterization of specific interactions between the human Lon protease and G-quartet DNA

Lon is an ATP-powered protease that binds DNA. However, the function of DNA binding by Lon remains elusive. Studies suggest that human Lon (hLon) binds preferentially to a G-rich single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) sequence overlapping the light strand promoter of mitochondrial DNA. This sequence is contained within a 24-base oligonucleotide referred to as LSPas. Here, we use biochemical and biophysical approaches to elucidate the structural properties of ssDNAs bound by hLon, as well as the thermodynamics of DNA binding by hLon. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay and circular dichroism show that ssDNAs with a propensity for forming parallel G-quartets are specifically bound by hLon. Isothermal titration calorimetry demonstrates that hLon binding to LSPas is primarily driven by enthalpy change associated with a significant reduction in heat capacity. Differential scanning calorimetry pinpoints an excess heat capacity upon hLon binding to LSPas. By contrast, hLon binding to an 8-base G-rich core sequence is entropically driven with a relatively negligible change in heat capacity. A considerable enhancement of thermal stability accompanies hLon binding to LSPas as compared to the G-rich core. Taken together, these data support the notion that hLon binds G-quartets through rigid-body binding and that binding to LSPas is coupled with structural adaptation

Structural elucidation of phosphoglycolipids from strains of the bacterial thermophiles Thermus and Meiothermus.

The structures of two major phosphoglycolipids from the thermophilic bacteria Thermus oshimai NTU-063, Thermus thermophilus NTU-077, Meiothermus ruber NTU-124, and Meiothermus taiwanensis NTU-220 were determined using spectroscopic and chemical analyses to be 2'-O-(1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho) -3'-O-(alpha-N-acetyl-glucosaminyl)-N-glyceroyl alkylamine [PGL1 (1)] and the novel structure 2'-O-(2-acylalkyldio-1-O-phospho)-3'-O-(alpha-N-acetylglucosaminyl)-N-glyceroyl alkylamine [PGL2 (2)]. PGL2 (2) is the first phosphoglycolipid identified with a 2-acylalkyldio-1-O-phosphate moiety. The fatty acids of the phosphoglycolipids are mainly iso-C(15:0), -C(16:0), and -C(17:0) and anteiso-C(15:0) and -C(17:0). The ratios of PGL2 (2) to PGL1 (1) are significantly altered when grown at different temperatures for three strains, T. thermophilus NTU-077, M. ruber NTU-124, and M. taiwanensis NTU-220, but not for T. oshimai NTU-063. Accordingly, the ratios of iso- to anteiso-branched fatty acids increase when grown at the higher temperature

Profiling time course expression of virus genes---an illustration of Bayesian inference under shape restrictions

There have been several studies of the genome-wide temporal transcriptional program of viruses, based on microarray experiments, which are generally useful in the construction of gene regulation network. It seems that biological interpretations in these studies are directly based on the normalized data and some crude statistics, which provide rough estimates of limited features of the profile and may incur biases. This paper introduces a hierarchical Bayesian shape restricted regression method for making inference on the time course expression of virus genes. Estimates of many salient features of the expression profile like onset time, inflection point, maximum value, time to maximum value, area under curve, etc. can be obtained immediately by this method. Applying this method to a baculovirus microarray time course expression data set, we indicate that many biological questions can be formulated quantitatively and we are able to offer insights into the baculovirus biology.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/09-AOAS258 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Acetylome of acinetobacter baumannii SK17 reveals a highly-conserved modification of histone-like protein HU

Lysine acetylation is a prevalent post-translational modification in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Whereas this modification is known to play pivotal roles in eukaryotes, the function and extent of this modification in prokaryotic cells remain largely unexplored. Here we report the acetylome of a pair of antibiotic-sensitive and -resistant nosocomial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii SK17-S and SK17-R. A total of 145 lysine acetylation sites on 125 proteins was identified, and there are 23 acetylated proteins found in both strains, including histone-like protein HU which was found to be acetylated at Lys13. HU is a dimeric DNA-binding protein critical for maintaining chromosomal architecture and other DNA-dependent functions. To analyze the effects of site-specific acetylation, homogenously Lys13-acetylated HU protein, HU(K13ac) was prepared by genetic code expansion. Whilst not exerting an obvious effect on the oligomeric state, Lys13 acetylation alters both the thermal stability and DNA binding kinetics of HU. Accordingly, this modification likely destabilizes the chromosome structure and regulates bacterial gene transcription. This work indicates that acetyllysine plays an important role in bacterial epigenetics

High efficiency silicon nanodisk laser based on colloidal CdSe/ZnS QDs

Using colloidal CdSe/ZnS quantum dots in the submicron-sized silicon disk cavity, we have developed a visible wavelength nanodisk laser that operates under extremely low threshold power at room temperature. Time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) of QDs; nanodisk by e-beam lithography. Observation of lasing action at 594 nm wavelength for quantum dots on a nanodisk (750 nm in diameter) cavity and an ultra-low threshold of 2.8 µW. From QD concentration dependence studies we achieved nearly sevenfold increase in spontaneous emission (SE) rate. We have achieved high efficient and high SE coupling rate in such a QD nanodisk laser

Role of pirenoxine in the effects of catalin on in vitro ultraviolet-induced lens protein turbidity and selenite-induced cataractogenesis in vivo

Purpose: In this study, we investigated the biochemical pharmacology of pirenoxine (PRX) and catalin under in vitro selenite/calcium- and ultraviolet (UV)-induced lens protein turbidity challenges. The systemic effects of catalin were determined using a selenite-induced cataractogenesis rat model. Methods: In vitro cataractogenesis assay systems (including UVB/C photo-oxidation of lens crystallins, calpain-induced proteolysis, and selenite/calcium-induced turbidity of lens crystallin solutions) were used to screen the activity of PRX and catalin eye drop solutions. Turbidity was identified as the optical density measured using spectroscopy at 405 nm. We also determined the in vivo effects of catalin on cataract severity in a selenite-induced cataract rat model. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) was applied to analyze the integrity of crystallin samples. Results: PRX at 1,000 μM significantly delayed UVC-induced turbidity formation compared to controls after 4 h of UVC exposure (p<0.05), but not in groups incubated with PRX concentrations of <1,000 μM. Results were further confirmed by SDS–PAGE. The absolute γ-crystallin turbidity induced by 4 h of UVC exposure was ameliorated in the presence of catalin equivalent to 1~100 μM PRX in a concentration-dependent manner. Samples with catalin-formulated vehicle only (CataV) and those containing PRX equivalent to 100 μM had a similar protective effect after 4 h of UVC exposure compared to the controls (p<0.05). PRX at 0.03, 0.1, and 0.3 μM significantly delayed 10 mM selenite- and calcium-induced turbidity formation compared to controls on days 0~4 (p<0.05). Catalin (equivalent to 32, 80, and 100 μM PRX) had an initial protective effect against selenite-induced lens protein turbidity on day 1 (p<0.05). Subcutaneous pretreatment with catalin (5 mg/kg) also statistically decreased the mean cataract scores in selenite-induced cataract rats on post-induction day 3 compared to the controls (1.3±0.2 versus 2.4±0.4; p<0.05). However, catalin (equivalent to up to 100 μM PRX) did not inhibit calpain-induced proteolysis activated by calcium, and neither did 100 μM PRX. Conclusions: PRX at micromolar levels ameliorated selenite- and calcium-induced lens protein turbidity but required millimolar levels to protect against UVC irradiation. The observed inhibition of UVC-induced turbidity of lens crystallins by catalin at micromolar concentrations may have been a result of the catalin-formulated vehicle. Transient protection by catalin against selenite-induced turbidity of crystallin solutions in vitro was supported by the ameliorated cataract scores in the early stage of cataractogenesis in vivo by subcutaneously administered catalin. PRX could not inhibit calpain-induced proteolysis activated by calcium or catalin itself, and may be detrimental to crystallins under UVB exposure. Further studies on formulation modifications of catalin and recommended doses of PRX to optimize clinical efficacy by cataract type are warranted

Production of Active Nonglycosylated Recombinant B-Chain of Type-2 Ribosome-Inactivating Protein from Viscum articulatum and Its Biological Effects on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

Type-2 ribosome-inactivating proteins, composed of a toxic A-chain and lectin-like B-chain, display various biological functions, including cytotoxicity and immunomodulation. We here cloned the lectin-like B-chain encoding fragment of a newly identified type-2 RIP gene, articulatin gene, from Viscum articulatum, into a bacterial expression vector to obtain nonglycosylated recombinant protein expressed in inclusion bodies. After purification and protein refolding, soluble refolded recombinant articulatin B-chain (rATB) showed lectin activity specific toward galactoside moiety and was stably maintained while stored in low ionic strength solution. Despite lacking glycosylation, rATB actively bound leukocytes with preferential binding to monocytes and in vitro stimulated PBMCs to release cytokines without obvious cytotoxicity. These results implicated such a B-chain fragment as a potential immunomodulator

Assembling a cellulase cocktail and a cellodextrin transporter into a yeast host for CBP ethanol production

Background: Many microorganisms possess enzymes that can efficiently degrade lignocellulosic materials, but donot have the capability to produce a large amount of ethanol. Thus, attempts have been made to transform suchenzymes into fermentative microbes to serve as hosts for ethanol production. However, an efficient host for aconsolidated bioprocess (CBP) remains to be found. For this purpose, a synthetic biology technique that cantransform multiple genes into a genome is instrumental. Moreover, a strategy to select cellulases that interactsynergistically is needed.Results: To engineer a yeast for CBP bio-ethanol production, a synthetic biology technique, called “promoter-basedgene assembly and simultaneous overexpression” (PGASO), that can simultaneously transform and express multiplegenes in a kefir yeast, Kluyveromyces marxianus KY3, was recently developed. To formulate an efficient cellulasecocktail, a filter-paper-activity assay for selecting heterologous cellulolytic enzymes was established in this study andused to select five cellulase genes, including two cellobiohydrolases, two endo-β-1,4-glucanases and onebeta-glucosidase genes from different fungi. In addition, a fungal cellodextrin transporter gene was chosen totransport cellodextrin into the cytoplasm. These six genes plus a selection marker gene were one-step assembledinto the KY3 genome using PGASO. Our experimental data showed that the recombinant strain KR7 could expressthe five heterologous cellulase genes and that KR7 could convert crystalline cellulose into ethanol.Conclusion: Seven heterologous genes, including five cellulases, a cellodextrin transporter and a selection marker,were simultaneously transformed into the KY3 genome to derive a new strain, KR7, which could directly convertcellulose to ethanol. The present study demonstrates the potential of our strategy of combining a cocktailformulation protocol and a synthetic biology technique to develop a designer yeast host