What Conflict Minerals Rules Tell Us about the Legal Transplantation of Corporate Social Responsibility Standards without the State: From the United Nations to the United States to Taiwan

To resolve global political and scholarly concerns over conflict minerals (“CM”) produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring regions, two kinds of CM-related disclosure rules (or “CM rules”) come into play in regulating their use: government-mandated laws such as Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act in the United States (hereinafter “Sec. 1502”) and transnational voluntary codes such as the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (“EICC”) Code of Conduct. The creation of both of these CM rules could be attributed to the promotion of such concerns by the United Nations. This article is the first attempt to unpack and closely consider the process of two distinct types of CM rules that are probably transplanted into Taiwan through global supply chains. This article joins a growing body of literature that deepens our understanding of the channels and objects of legal transplants. The findings of the Taiwanese case study are important for two reasons. First, in terms of the transplant process or channels, some Taiwanese companies have started to follow CM rules due to their supply contracts, demonstrating that applicable CM rules might have been transplanted into Taiwan through private channels such as supply contracts, rather than through the formal public channels of legal transplantation initiated by the government. Second, but just as importantly, with regard to transplanted objects, what further distinguishes this article from prior studies is that the Taiwanese case study could indicate that Taiwanese suppliers comply with CM rules established by the EICC more prevalently than those promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Act. If so, this would imply that when it comes to adopting or implementing transnational corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) standards in suppliers’ countries or jurisdictions, private CSR standards written by non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”) or industries themselves in a bottom-up approach are more effective or more easily accepted than public standards such as state laws enacted by a foreign/national government in a top-down approach

Dynamic Correlations and Volatility Spillovers between Crude Oil and Stock Index Returns: The Implications for Optimal Portfolio Construction

This paper researches the portfolio construction between stock price of group of seven (G7) and West Texas Intermediate crude oil from January 2, 1998 to March 1, 2012. We investigate the volatility spillover between stock price and oil price with the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC), constant conditional correlation (CCC) and BEKK models, and also analyze their optimal hedge ratio and portfolio weights. The empirical result is that the hedge effectiveness of DCC model is better than the CCC model and BEKK models. The hedge effectiveness (HE) in Canada is the highest but Japan is the lowest. Moreover, the results show that Japan has the biggest optimal portfolio weight and the lowest hedge ratio. We do this research with expectation of providing investors information to increase the basis of investing. Keywords: Crude oil; DCC model; Hedge effectiveness; Optimal portfolio JEL Classifications: C22; G1; N

Conditional Jump Dynamics in the Stock Prices of Alternative Energy Companies

This paper researches the abnormal information in the WilderHill Clean Energy Index (ECO) and NYSE Arca Technology Index (PSE) by using an autoregressive conditional jump intensity model in Skew Generalized Error Distribution (ARJI-SGED). The research period is from 3 January 2001 to 31 January 2011. We also test the diffusion-jump variance on the PSE and ECO. The empirical result indicates that there are jump phenomena in clean energy and technology companies. The oil price impacts on clean energy and technology companies. Moreover, the PSE has higher levels of volatility clustering than the ECO. These results show that the distributions of PSE return are skewed slightly to the left and fat-tailed. These also mean that jump variance plays a crucial role in market volatility indices. Keywords: Clean Energy; Abnormal Information; ARJI-SGED Model JEL Classifications: C2; G1; Q4

MethylC-analyzer: A comprehensive downstream pipeline for the analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation

DNA methylation is a crucial epigenetic modification involved in multiple biological processes and diseases. Current approaches for measuring genome-wide DNA methylation via bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq) include whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), and enzymatic methyl-seq (EM-seq). The computational analysis tools available for BS-seq data include customized aligners for mapping bisulfite-converted reads and computational pipelines for downstream data analysis. Current post-alignment methylation tools are specialized for the interpretation of CG methylation, which is known to dominate mammalian genomes, however, non-CG methylation (CHG and CHH, where H refers to A, C, or T) is commonly observed in plants and fungi and is closely associated with gene regulation, transposon silencing, and plant development. Thus, we have developed a MethylC-analyzer to analyze and visualize post-alignment WGBS, RRBS, and EM-seq data focusing on CG. The tool is able to also analyze non-CG sites to enhance deciphering genomes of plants and fungi. By processing aligned data and gene location files, MethylC-analyzer generates a genome-wide view of methylation levels and methylation in user-specified genomic regions. The meta-plot, for example, allows the investigation of DNA methylation within specific genomic elements. Moreover, our tool identifies differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and investigates the enrichment of genomic features associated with variable methylation. MethylC-analyzer functionality is not limited to specific genomes, and we demonstrated its performance on both plant and human BS-seq data. MethylC-analyzer is a Python- and R-based program designed to perform comprehensive downstream analyses of methylation data, providing an intuitive analysis platform for scientists unfamiliar with DNA methylation analysis. It is available as either a standalone version for command-line uses or a graphical user interface (GUI) and is publicly accessible at https://github.com/RitataLU/MethylC-analyzer

Effects of natto extract on endothelial injury in a rat model

Vascular endothelial damage has been found to be associated with thrombus formation, which is considered to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A diet of natto leads to a low prevalence of cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of natto extract on vascular endothelia damage with exposure to laser irradiation. Endothelial damage both in vitro and in vivo was induced by irradiation of rose bengal using a DPSS green laser. Cell viability was determined by MTS assay, and the intimal thickening was verified by a histological approach. The antioxidant content of natto extract was determined for the free radical scavenging activity. Endothelial cells were injured in the presence of rose bengal irradiated in a dose-dependent manner. Natto extract exhibits high levels of antioxidant activity compared with purified natto kinase. Apoptosis of laser-injured endothelial cells was significantly reduced in the presence of natto extract. Both the natto extract and natto kinase suppressed intimal thickening in rats with endothelial injury. The present findings suggest that natto extract suppresses vessel thickening as a synergic effect attributed to its antioxidant and anti-apoptosis properties

Early combined treatment with sildenafil and adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells preserves heart function in rat dilated cardiomyopathy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We investigated whether early combined autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell (ADMSC) and sildenafil therapy offers an additive benefit in preserving heart function in rat dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Adult Lewis rats (n = 8 per group) were divided into group 1 (normal control), group 2 (saline-treated DCM rats), group 3 [2.0 × 10⁶ADMSC implanted into left ventricular (LV) myocardium of DCM rats], group 4 (DCM rats with sildenafil 30 mg/kg/day, orally), and group 5 (DCM rats with combined ADMSC-sildenafil). Treatment was started 1 week after DCM induction and the rats were sacrificed on day 90.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that mitochondrial protein expressions of connexin43 and cytochrome-C were lowest in group 2, and lower in groups 3 and 4 than in group 5 (p < 0.002). Conversely, oxidative index was highest in group 2, and also higher in groups 3 and 4 than in group 5 (p < 0.0003). The mRNA expressions of interleukin (IL)-10, Gro/IL-8, endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and Bcl-2 were lowest in group 2, and lower in groups 3 and 4 compared with group 5 (p < 0.0001). The mRNA expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-9, Bax, caspase 3, and stromal-cell derived factor-1α were highest in group 2, and higher in groups 3 and 4 than in group 5 (p < 0.0004). Apoptosis and fibrosis in LV myocardium were most prominent in group 2 and higher in groups 3 and 4 than in group 5, whereas angiogenesis and LV ejection fraction were lowest in group 2 and lower in groups 3 and 4 than in group 5 (p < 0.003).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Early combined ADMSC/sildenafil is superior to either treatment alone in preserving LV function.</p

Activation of Endothelial Cells by Antiphospholipid Antibodies—A Possible Mechanism Triggering Thrombosis in Patients with Antiphospholipid Syndrome

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an antibody-mediated hypercoagulable state characterized by recurrent venous and arterial thromboembolic events. The presence of serum antibodies are collectively termed as antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and is the hallmark of the disease. Interest in the pathogenesis has mostly been focused on the blood coagulation factor. However, endothelial cells might play an important role. When stimulated, cell membrane would flip to expose negatively charged phospholipids and activation markers such as adhesive molecules may appear. We consider that these changes may play an important role in the initiation of the thrombotic process when endothelial cells encounter aPL. In this study, we incubated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with IgG isolated from patients with APS and found that the HUVECs were activated by the expression of negatively charged phospholipids, as shown by high annexin V binding and negative propidium iodide staining and by an increase in the level of intracellular cell adhesion molecule-1 on the cell surface. The above findings indicate that endothelial cells can be activated on exposure to aPL and trigger the thrombotic event