How manufacturing firms respond to energy subsidy reforms?

Energy prices increased several folds due to the 2010 Iranian Energy Subsidy Reform. This study assesses the impact of the reform on the performance of manufacturing firms using a detailed micro-panel dataset at the 4-digit ISIC level for the period 2009 to 2013. Since the reform universally affected all firms, the analysis relies on a quasi-experimental framework implementing first an explorative before-after design with structural fixed-effects and second a difference-in-difference analysis exploiting energy-sensitivity. The subsidy removal caused a shrinkage in output and manufacturing value-added of at least 3 and 7%, respectively. This results in a deterioration of profits by nearly 9%. Manufacturing firms have been affected through three channels: increasing costs of direct energy inputs, pass-through costs for inputs from upstream firms and an energy-price-induced demand contraction. To successfully implement an energy subsidy reform while maintaining growth in the manufacturing sector, not only the direct but also the indirect, pass-through effects have to be considered since capital or technology-led responses to mitigate negative repercussions in the short-run are unlikely at large scale. The results can inform price reforms that aim to mitigate climate change

Identification and Clinical Implications of a Novel MYO15A Variant in a Consanguineous Iranian Family by Targeted Exome Sequencing

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hereditary hearing loss (HL) is known by a very high genetic heterogeneity, which makes a molecular diagnosis problematic. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a new strategy that can overcome this problem. METHOD: A comprehensive family history was obtained, and clinical evaluations and pedigree analysis were performed in the family with 3 affected members. After excluding mutations in the GJB2 and 7 other most common autosomal recessive nonsyndromic HL genes via Sanger sequencing and genetic linkage analysis in the family, we applied the Otogenetics deafness NGS panel in the proband of this family. RESULTS: NGS results showed a novel rare variant (c.7720C>T) in the MYO15A gene. This nonsense variant in the exon 40 of the MYO15A gene fulfills the criteria of being categorized as pathogenic according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guideline. CONCLUSIONS: New DNA sequencing technologies could lead to identification of the disease causing variants in highly heterogeneous disorders such as HL

Cash instead of subsidy: Assessing the impact of the Iranian energy subsidy reform on households

The 2010 energy subsidy reform in Iran is a unique case of redistributive policy as the savings from the subsidy cut have been redirected to households as unconditional, universal cash transfer. While theoretically, the cash transfer was large enough to keep the utility of the average household at the initial level, this study explores the practical impacts of the reform. We analyze panel data on income/expenditure of Iranian households for the period 2010–2012. Since this is a universal reform, we exploit the time dimension and the intensity of energy consumption in the identification and assess the robustness of the results with sub-sample and placebo analyses. Overall, the energy subsidy reform caused a significant shrinkage (7%–9%) in households' real consumption. The cash transfer failed to fully compensate the negative impact of the subsidy removal. The impact is heterogeneous, varying along the intensity of energy consumption, geographical location, income and the share of the cash transfer in a household's income. A non-negligible policy accomplishment of the reform is that within its first two years poverty was mitigated in absolute and relative terms and income inequality slightly improved. Nevertheless, the government is under pressure because inflation counteracts these gains

Investigating CT-Guided Transthoracic Core Needle Biopsy Specimens in Yazd Shahid Sadoughi Hospital

Introduction: Despite the popularity of needle biopsy for obtaining tissue samples in several solid organs, its use in thoracic lesions has been very restricted in some hospitals. This study intended to investigate the CT-Guided transthoracic core needle biopsy specimens in Yazd Shahid Sadoughi hospital during 2001- 2010. Methods: This is a retrospective cross- sectional study conducted on pathologic results of CT-Guided transthoracic core needle biopsy specimens in Shahid Sadoughi hospital from 2001-2010. Results: In our study, 89 thoracic CNB were studied between2001-2010 from patients that referred to Sadoughi hospital who involved 53 males and 36 females. 78 biopsies were from lung and 11 biopsies from Mediastin. In a total of 89 biopsies 71 biopsies (78.9%) supplied appropriate material for histopathological diagnosis. Results were classified into one of the following four groups: positive or suspicious for malignancy(19.1%), benign specific(34.8%), benign non-specific(25.8%) and non-diagnostic(20.2%). Conclusion: Based on multivariate analysis there was no significant correlation between age ,sex ,size of lesion and pathology results, but there was a significant correlation between the location of thoracic lesion in lung and pathology results (p-value=0.024). Application of automated system for biopsy and fluoroscopy CT for guidance of needle biopsy can elevate adequacy of core needle biopsy in thoracic lesion

Thermodynamic schemes of charged BTZ-like black holes in arbitrary dimensions

We investigate thermodynamic schemes of charged BTZ-like black holes in arbitrary dimensions, namely higher-dimensional charged black holes in which the electromagnetic sector exhibits the same properties with that of the usual three-dimensional BTZ solution. We first present the Euclidean on-shell action in arbitrary dimensions, inserting a radial cutoff. We then extract the corresponding thermodynamic quantities from the semi-classical partition function in different ensembles and find that there exist two possible thermodynamic schemes, with different outcomes. Regarding the traditional scheme (scheme I), where the length cutoff is identified with the AdS radius, we show that charged BTZ-like black holes are super-entropic, namely they violate the reverse isoperimetric inequality conjecture, and their super-entropicity is strongly connected to a fundamental thermodynamic instability. This class of solutions is the first demonstration of super-entropic black holes which possess second-order critical points and, since thermodynamic instabilities always arise, it is not possible to physically interpret the corresponding van der Waals critical phenomenon in this scheme. In the second scheme (II) where the length cutoff is considered as an independent variable, namely the system respects the conjectured reverse isoperimetric inequality, we show that the solutions are thermodynamically stable in an ensemble where the length cutoff is kept fixed, and hence one can provide an explanation for the van der Waals critical phenomenon. Furthermore, in order to verify the consistency of the second scheme, we study the Joule-Thomson expansion and we extract the Joule-Thomson coefficient, the inversion temperature, the inversion curves, and the isenthalpic curves. The results indicate that this class of AdS black holes can be considered as interacting statistical systems. Additionally, ...Comment: 25 pages, 7 figure

Progress in delivery of siRNA-based therapeutics employing nano-vehicles for treatment of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) accounts for a high number of deaths in males with no available curative treatments. Patients with PCa are commonly diagnosed in advanced stages due to the lack of symptoms in the early stages. Recently, the research focus was directed toward gene editing in cancer therapy. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) intervention is considered as a powerful tool for gene silencing (knockdown), enabling the suppression of oncogene factors in cancer. This strategy is applied to the treatment of various cancers including PCa. The siRNA can inhibit proliferation and invasion of PCa cells and is able to promote the anti-tumor activity of chemotherapeutic agents. However, the o-target eects of siRNA therapy remarkably reduce its ecacy in PCa therapy. To date, various carriers were designed to improve the delivery of siRNA and, among them, nanoparticles are of importance. Nanoparticles enable the targeted delivery of siRNAs and enhance their potential in the downregulation of target genes of interest. Additionally, nanoparticles can provide a platform for the co-delivery of siRNAs and anti-tumor drugs, resulting in decreased growth and migration of PCa cells. The ecacy, specificity, and delivery of siRNAs are comprehensively discussed in this review to direct further studies toward using siRNAs and their nanoscale-delivery systems in PCa therapy and perhaps other cancer types. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland