An Investigation of Firm-Level R&D Capabilities in East Asia

This paper uses a survey of 1,826 firms distributed over ten East Asian metropolitan areas – Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, and five Chinese cities – to investigate the sources of firm-level R&D capabilities. The analysis identifies the impact of 23 survey variables, classified by openness, human capital, R&D network, and institutional quality, on the efficiency of firm R&D operations and on overall firm performance. These firmlevel results are used to construct composite measures R&D capabilities for each of the 10 metropolitan economies. Using the firm samples, returns to R&D are also estimated for each of the metropolitan areas. Where cross economy comparisons are possible, as they are for Seoul and the five Chinese cities, we find a strong association between overall R&D productivity in these city economies and the composite measures of citywide R&D capabilities. In particular, high composite measures in Seoul and Shanghai are associated with high returns to R&D in those cities. The large productivitywage gaps in the Chinese cities appear to be attracting large and visible investment in R&D operations. Whether R&D wages rise to narrow this gap or investment and technology flows continue to sustain the gap will substantially affect the pattern of R&D operations within the Asian region.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39969/3/wp583.pd

An Investigation of Firm-Level R&D Capabilities in East Asia

This paper uses a survey of 1,826 firms distributed over ten East Asian metropolitan areas – Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, and five Chinese cities – to investigate the sources of firm-level R&D capabilities. The analysis identifies the impact of 23 survey variables, classified by openness, human capital, R&D network, and institutional quality, on the efficiency of firm R&D operations and on overall firm performance. These firmlevel results are used to construct composite measures R&D capabilities for each of the 10 metropolitan economies. Using the firm samples, returns to R&D are also estimated for each of the metropolitan areas. Where cross economy comparisons are possible, as they are for Seoul and the five Chinese cities, we find a strong association between overall R&D productivity in these city economies and the composite measures of citywide R&D capabilities. In particular, high composite measures in Seoul and Shanghai are associated with high returns to R&D in those cities. The large productivitywage gaps in the Chinese cities appear to be attracting large and visible investment in R&D operations. Whether R&D wages rise to narrow this gap or investment and technology flows continue to sustain the gap will substantially affect the pattern of R&D operations within the Asian region.Research and development, Technology transfer, East Asia

Clinical efficacy of the combined use of levofloxacin and different courses of isoniazid and rifampicin in the treatment of mild spinal tuberculosis

Purpose: To investigate the clinical effectiveness of the combined use of levofloxacin and different courses of isoniazid and rifampicin in the treatment of mild spinal tuberculosis (TB). Methods: The clinic data of 100 patients with light spinal TB were retrospectively reviewed. A double-blind technique was used to divide the patients into 6-month treatment group (M6 group, n = 32), 12-month treatment group (M12 group, n = 34) and 18-month treatment group (M18 group, n = 34). All patients were given isoniazid and rifampicin, in combination with levofloxacin. The effects of the different treatment courses on mild spinal TB were determined. Results: There were significantly higher post-treatment levels of inflammatory factors in M6 group than in M12 and M18 groups (p < 0.001). Moreover, there were significantly higher Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and larger focus size in M6 group than in M12 and M18 groups (p < 0.05). However, after treatment, M18 group had significantly higher total incidence of adverse reactions than M6 and M12 groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with the short-course treatment, long-course treatment with isoniazid and rifampicin in combination with levofloxacin is more effective in reducing the levels of inflammatory factors and decreasing focus size in patients with mild spinal TB. However, patients given the 18-month treatment tend to develop more adverse reactions. Therefore, 12-month treatment with the combined therapy is a better therapeutic option

Matrine Reverses the Warburg Effect and Suppresses Colon Cancer Cell Growth via Negatively Regulating HIF-1α.

The Warburg effect is a peculiar feature of cancer’s metabolism, which is an attractive therapeutic target that could aim tumor cells while sparing normal tissue. Matrine is an alkaloid extracted from the herb root of a traditional Chinese medicine, Sophora flavescens Ait. Matrine has been reported to have selective cytotoxicity toward cancer cells but with elusive mechanisms. Here, we reported that matrine was able to reverse the Warburg effect (inhibiting glucose uptake and lactate production) and suppress the growth of human colon cancer cells in vitro and in vivo . Mechanistically, we revealed that matrine significantly decreased the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression of HIF-1α, a critical transcription factor in reprogramming cancer metabolism toward the Warburg effect. As a result, the expression levels of GLUT1, HK2, and LDHA, the downstream targets of HIF-1α in regulating glucose metabolism, were dramatically inhibited by matrine. Moreover, this inhibitory effect of matrine was significantly attenuated when HIF-1α was knocked down or exogenous overexpressed in colon cancer cells. Together, our results revealed that matrine inhibits colon cancer cell growth via suppression of HIF-1α expression and its downstream regulation of Warburg effect. Matrine could be further developed as an antitumor agent targeting the HIF-1α-mediated Warburg effect for colon cancer treatment

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Removal and Biodegradation of Nonylphenol by Four Freshwater Microalgae

The removal and biodegradation of nonylphenol (NP) by four freshwater microalgae, including three green algae (Scendesmus quadriauda, Chlorella vulgaris, and Ankistrodesmus acicularis) and one cyanobacterium (Chroococcus minutus) were studied in bacteria-free cultures exposed to different concentrations of NP for 5 days. All four algal species showed a rapid and high ability to remove NP (including bioaccumulation and biodegradation). Among these species, A. acicularis (Ankistrodesmus acicularis) had the highest NP removal rate (83.77%) at 120 h when exposed to different NP treatments (0.5–2.5 mg·L−1), followed by C. vulgaris (Chlorella vulgaris) (80.80%), S. quadriauda (Scendesmus quadriauda) (70.96%) and C. minutus (Chroococcus minutus) (64.26%). C. vulgaris had the highest NP biodegradation percentage (68.80%) at 120 h, followed by A. acicularis (65.63%), S. quadriauda (63.10%); and C. minutus (34.91%). The extracellular NP contents were lower than the intracellular NP contents in all tested algae. The ratio of the extracellular NP content and the intracellular NP content ranged from 0.04 to 0.85. Therefore, the removal of NP from the medium was mainly due to the algal degradation. These results indicate that A. acicularis and C. vulgaris are more tolerant to NP and could be used for treatment of NP contaminated aqueous systems effectively by bioremoval and biodegradation

Numerical Analysis of Slope Stability under Reservoir Water Level Fluctuations Using a FEM-LEM-Combined Method

Large-scale slopes at the banks of reservoirs pose a serious threat to the safety of hydropower stations. The fluctuation of the reservoir water level is a key factor in the slope stability. However, the parameters to describe the relationship among water content, matric suction, and soil strength are difficult to measure using unsaturated soil strength theory. To solve this problem, a simple FEM-LEM-combined scheme considering pore pressure, seepage force, and strength weakening is presented to calculate the safety factor. A numerical study on the impact of reservoir water level fluctuations on stability of a glaciofluvial deposit slope is implemented. Two typical profiles are used to estimate the stability of the glaciofluvial deposit slope in response to rising and lowering water levels. The results indicate that this method proposed a simple and efficient tool for water level-induced slope stability analysis