Labor Productivity In Emerging Markets: Evidence From Brazil, China, India, And Russia (BRIC)

Despite the great amount of attention to emerging markets, much still remains unknown about firm performance in emerging economies. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate factors that influence labor productivity of firms in Brazil, China, India, and Russia (BRIC countries). This study focuses on features of business environments of emerging markets such as informality, corruption, foreign ownership, and external audit. Using a cross-national sample of 8,885 firms from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys dataset, we find that informality is negatively associated with labor productivity, while corruption and external audit are positively related to labor productivity. Implications will be discussed

Granular Cell Tumor of the Urinary Bladder

A 67-year-old Korean man presented with gross, painless hematuria that had lasted for the previous 2 months. Cystoscopy showed a semispherical tumor approximately 1 cm in diameter that was covered with normal bladder mucosa and extended from the bladder neck to the posterior wall of the bladder. The patient underwent transurethral resection of the tumor. Histological examination and immunohistochemical staining showed a granular cell tumor (GCT). There were no features suggesting a malignant phenotype. On follow-up, the patient has remained free of bladder recurrence. We herein report this case of a GCT of the urinary bladder and review the literature

The Chemical Compositions of Very Metal-Poor Stars HD 122563 and HD 140283; A View From the Infrared

From high resolution (R = 45,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N > 400) spectra gathered with the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph (IGRINS) in the H and K photometric bands, we have derived elemental abundances of two bright, well-known metal-poor halo stars: the red giant HD 122563 and the subgiant HD 140283. Since these stars have metallicities approaching [Fe/H] = -3, their absorption features are generally very weak. Neutral-species lines of Mg, Si, S and Ca are detectable, as well as those of the light odd-Z elements Na and Al. The derived IR-based abundances agree with those obtained from optical-wavelength spectra. For Mg and Si the abundances from the infrared transitions are improvements to those derived from shorter wavelength data. Many useful OH and CO lines can be detected in the IGRINS HD 122563 spectrum, from which derived O and C abundances are consistent to those obtained from the traditional [O I] and CH features. IGRINS high resolutions H- and K-band spectroscopy offers promising ways to determine more reliable abundances for additional metal-poor stars whose optical features are either not detectable, or too weak, or are based on lines with analytical difficulties.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (28 pages, 4 tables, 6 figures

Simple Quantification of Pentosidine in Human Urine and Plasma by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Pentosidine is an advanced glycation end-product (AGE) and fluorescent cross-link compound. A simple high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the detection and quantification of pentosidine in human urine and plasma. The mobile phase used a gradient system to improve separation of pentosidine from endogenous peaks, and chromatograms were monitored by fluorescent detector set at excitation and emission wavelengths of 328 and 378 nm, respectively. The retention time for pentosidine was 24.3 min and the lower limits of quantification (LLOQ) in human urine and plasma were 1 nM. The intraday assay precisions (coefficients of variation) were generally low and found to be in the range of 5.19–7.49% and 4.96–8.78% for human urine and plasma, respectively. The corresponding values of the interday assay precisions were 9.45% and 4.27%. Accuracies (relative errors) ranged from 87.9% to 115%. Pentosidine was stable in a range of pH solutions, human urine, and plasma. In summary, this HPLC method can be applied in future preclinical and clinical evaluation of pentosidine in the diabetic patients

Alpha-Methylacyl-Coenzyme A Racemase-Expressing Urachal Adenocarcinoma of the Abdominal Wall

Urachal adenocarcinomas are very rare and about one third of these neoplasms arise in urachal remnants. To demonstrate the origin of the urachal adenocarcinoma is not easy, but it is very important for managing patient care. We report on a 35-year-old man who complained of a palpable mass in the periumbilical area. The mass was incidentally identified 10 days earlier. Computed tomography revealed a well-defined enhancing mass with internal calcification and septation abutting on the dome of the urinary bladder. The clinical diagnosis was urachal cancer, which seemed to invade the urinary bladder. Thus, we performed mass excision and partial resection of the bladder. Histopathologically, the mass was diagnosed as mucinous cystadenocarcinoma originating from urachal remnants that showed an unusual expression of alpha-methylacyl-coenzyme A racemase (AMACR). To our knowledge, this report is the first case of AMACR-expressing urachal adenocarcinoma arising in the abdominal wall

Atopic Dermatitis-Like Skin Lesions Reduced by Topical Application and Intraperitoneal Injection of Hirsutenone in NC/Nga Mice

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease. The increasing prevalence and severity of AD have prompted the developments of safer, more effective drugs. Although topical corticosteroids have been used as first line therapy for AD, their potential side effects limit their clinical applications. To investigate the effect of hirsutenone (HIR), a diarylheptanoid compound, on AD-like skin lesions and other factors related to immune response is the aim of this paper Th2-related cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-13), eosinophil, IgE inflammatory factors (COX-2, iNOS) levels were reduced in blood, lymphocytes, and tissue after HIR treatment. These results suggest that HIR might be an effective treatment for AD

Dysregulation of adipose glutathione peroxidase 3 in obesity contributes to local and systemic oxidative stress

Glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3) accounts for the major antioxidant activity in the plasma. Here, we demonstrate that down-regulation of GPx3 in the plasma of obese subjects is associated with adipose GPx3 dysregulation, resulting from the increase of inflammatory signals and oxidative stress. Although GPx3 was abundantly expressed in kidney, lung, and adipose tissue, we observed that GPx3 expression was reduced selectively in the adipose tissue of several obese animal models as decreasing plasma GPx3 level. Adipose GPx3 expression was greatly suppressed by prooxidative conditions such as high levels of TNFalpha and hypoxia. In contrast, the antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine and the antidiabetic drug rosiglitazone increased adipose GPx3 expression in obese and diabetic db/db mice. Moreover, GPx3 overexpression in adipocytes improved high glucose-induced insulin resistance and attenuated inflammatory gene expression whereas GPx3 neutralization in adipocytes promoted expression of proinflammatory genes. Taken together, these data suggest that suppression of GPx3 expression in the adipose tissue of obese subjects might constitute a vicious cycle to expand local reactive oxygen species accumulation in adipose tissue potentially into systemic oxidative stress and obesity-related metabolic complications