How the Asian crisis affected the world economy : a general equilibrium perspective

Financial crises

Effects of sodium arsenite on liver fibrosis and expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation-related proteins in SD rats

BackgroundLong-term exposure to sodium arsenite leads to its accumulation in the liver and liver injury as a result. Previous studies showed that mesenchymal cells play an important role in hepatic fibrosis, and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) is considered to be a main source of mesenchymal cells.ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of sodium arsenite at different doses on liver fibrosis and EMT-related protein expressions in SD rats.MethodsTwenty-four healthy weaned SD rats, half male and half female, were randomly divided into four groups according to body weight, with 6 rats in each group. The four groups were control group (gavage with 10.0 mL·kg−1 physiological saline), 2.5 mg·kg−1 sodium arsenite group, 5.0 mg·kg−1 sodium arsenite group, and 10.0 mg·kg−1 sodium arsenite group. All rats were gavaged 6 d per week for 36 weeks and weighed once a week, the serum and liver tissues of rats were collected and weighed, then the organ coefficient was calculated. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and Masson's trichrome staining were used to determine the pathological changes of hepatic fibrosis in rats. The serum secretion levels of hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN), procollagen Ⅲ N-terminal propeptide (PⅢNP), and collagen Ⅳ (COL-Ⅳ) in rats were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The protein expressions of HSCs activation-related proteins, such as α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), as well as EMT-related markers, such as E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Vimentin, and Snail, were detected by Western blotting.ResultsCompared with the control group, the 10.0 mg·kg−1 sodium arsenite group showed decreased body weight (P<0.05) and increased liver coefficient (P<0.05) of female and male rats. The pathological staining showed that, compared with the control group, a large number of inflammatory cells were observed in liver tissue of rats exposed to sodium arsenite, liver parenchymal cells were also liquefied, necrotic, and denatured, and the collagen positive staining area of liver tissue showed an upward trend along with the increase of arsenic exposure dose (P<0.05). The results of ELISA and Western blotting showed that the serum secretion levels of HA, LN, PⅢNP, and COL-Ⅳ in the 5.0 and 10.0 mg·kg−1 sodium arsenite groups were higher than those in the control group and the 2.5 mg·kg−1 sodium arsenite group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the expressions of α-SMA and TGF-β1 proteins in liver tissue were increased in each sodium arsenite exposure group (P<0.05), the expression levels of E-cadherin protein were decreased (P<0.05), and the expression levels of N-cadherin, Vimentin, and Snail were increased (P<0.05).ConclusionSodium arsenite exposure can induce HSCs activation and liver fibrosis injury in SD rats, resulting in increased extracellular matrix secretion levels, accompanied by EMT in liver tissue, suggesting that EMT is closely related to the process of liver fibrosis caused by arsenic

Pathogenic characteristics and drug resistance spectrum of Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli in infant food in Liaoning Province from 2018 to 2020

ObjectiveTo give a solid foundation for the epidemiological data of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli （DEC）， and provide a basis for the rational drug use for foodborne diseases caused by DEC， the continuous monitoring of DEC from 2018 to 2020 in Liaoning Province was carried out. The pathogenic characteristics and drug sensitivity characteristics of DEC were investigated.MethodsA total of 208 infant food in Liaoning Province were collected， from which Enterobacteriaceae was isolated， and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis and biochemical identification were carried out. The virulence genes of E.coli were detected. The serotype and drug resistance spectrum of EAEC were identified.ResultsIdentified species of Enterobacteriaceae by 16S rRNA gene sequencing method was consistent with the biochemical results. The detection rate of EAEC in infant food was high， and the detection rate of virulence gene pic of EAEC was high. Virulence genotyping was consistent with the serum typing. According to the virulence gene carried by Escherichia coli， 25 strains of EAEC were detected， of which 40% of the strains （serotype O134：H9） carried virulence gene pic， 28% of the strains （serotype O3：H2） carried virulence gene aggR and astA， 16% of the strains （serotype O9：H6） carried virulence gene aggR， and 16% of the strains （serotype O62：H7） carried virulence gene astA. The carrying rate of EAEC virulence gene in 78 strains was 32.1%. The drug resistance of 25 EAEC strains was not optimistic， and there were multiple drug-resistant strains. The resistance was mainly for β lactams， macrolides， quinolones and tetracyclines.ConclusionEAEC was the main contamination of Escherichia coli in infant food in Liaoning Province， and had high drug resistance， which need more attention to be paid to

Transposable element-initiated enhancer-like elements generate the subgenome-biased spike specificity of polyploid wheat

Transposable elements (TEs) comprise ~85% of the common wheat genome, which are highly diverse among subgenomes, possibly contribute to polyploid plasticity, but the causality is only assumed. Here, by integrating data from gene expression cap analysis and epigenome profiling via hidden Markov model in common wheat, we detect a large proportion of enhancer-like elements (ELEs) derived from TEs producing nascent noncoding transcripts, namely ELE-RNAs, which are well indicative of the regulatory activity of ELEs. Quantifying ELE-RNA transcriptome across typical developmental stages reveals that TE-initiated ELE-RNAs are mainly from RLG_famc7.3 specifically expanded in subgenome A. Acquisition of spike-specific transcription factor binding likely confers spike-specific expression of RLG_famc7.3-initiated ELE-RNAs. Knockdown of RLG_famc7.3-initiated ELE-RNAs resulted in global downregulation of spike-specific genes and abnormal spike development. These findings link TE expansion to regulatory specificity and polyploid developmental plasticity, highlighting the functional impact of TE-driven regulatory innovation on polyploid evolution

Challenges and choices in post-crisis East-Asia: simulations of investment policy reform in an intertemporal, global model

The East Asian financial crisis exposed the problems of excessive government intervention in credit allocation and poor supervision of the banking system. We argue that the crisis is an opportunity to reformulate the strategies of growth by way of eliminating politicized intervention on investment. In an intertemporal general equilibrium model, we examine the adjustment processes of the crisis-hit region and the world economies, and investigate the removal of the investment subsidies. Our results suggest that the immediate impact of the crisis on the Asian economies is a contraction of GDP and investment. We also find significant welfare gains in the crisis-hit economies in response to elimination of the subsidies to firm's investment.Financial institutions ; Banks and banking, Foreign

Full Current-Type Control-Based Hybrid Energy Storage System

With greater power density, a hybrid power source that combines supercapacitors and batteries has a wide range of applications in pulse-operated power systems. In this paper, a supercapacitor/battery semi-active hybrid energy storage system (HESS) with a full current-type control strategy is presented. The studied HESS is composed of batteries, supercapacitors, and a bidirectional buck&ndash;boost converter. The converter is controlled such that supercapacitors supply load power pulses, and batteries provide the power in steady state. To realize the fast compensation of the supercapacitors to the load power pulses, a power distribution module based on hysteresis control theory is designed in the control system. Moreover, the control strategy does not require the model parameters of the converter and supercapacitors, so the control system is simplified. A complete configuration scheme and cost analysis of the proposed HESS are also presented. Obtained results show that the proposed supercapacitor/battery semi-active HESS has good performance in terms of dynamic response, weight, and energy utilization coefficient (EUC)

Full Current-Type Control-Based Hybrid Energy Storage System

With greater power density, a hybrid power source that combines supercapacitors and batteries has a wide range of applications in pulse-operated power systems. In this paper, a supercapacitor/battery semi-active hybrid energy storage system (HESS) with a full current-type control strategy is presented. The studied HESS is composed of batteries, supercapacitors, and a bidirectional buck–boost converter. The converter is controlled such that supercapacitors supply load power pulses, and batteries provide the power in steady state. To realize the fast compensation of the supercapacitors to the load power pulses, a power distribution module based on hysteresis control theory is designed in the control system. Moreover, the control strategy does not require the model parameters of the converter and supercapacitors, so the control system is simplified. A complete configuration scheme and cost analysis of the proposed HESS are also presented. Obtained results show that the proposed supercapacitor/battery semi-active HESS has good performance in terms of dynamic response, weight, and energy utilization coefficient (EUC)