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Exploring the Impact of Tariffs on Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Prosperity
Get PDFThe global economic environment has become more interconnected, a significant portion of which can be attributed to countries welcoming foreign businesses through foreign direct investments (FDI). FDI is powerful in its ability to grow and develop home companies while shaping host economies, which lays out a critical role in the generating opportunities, strengthening economies, and the circulation or velocity of capital. This paper extends the initial work of Ranish, Mentz and Mohs (2015) relating to global value chain decision making. The purpose of this research is to review and outline the sensitivity to Tariff’s on FDI and economic growth. The conclusions, recommendations and implications reached in this study are generalizable and appropriate for developing best practice solutions
Green Fischer Indole Synthesis Using a Steroidal Ketone in a Conductively Heated Sealed-Vessel Reactor for the Advanced Undergraduate Laboratory
No full textHighly efficient microwave-assisted organic synthesis is now commonplace in both industry and academia. Recently, a conductively heated sealed-vessel reactor was introduced that acts very similarly to a microwave reactor and is more affordable. Application of such reactors in teaching laboratories is advantageous because of the restricted window of time available to perform experiments and because it avoids long reaction times that are unpopular with students. These reactors thus allow reactions that were previously considered impractical for the teaching laboratory, such as the Fischer indole synthesis, to now be very feasible. We designed a clean and efficient Fischer indole synthesis to introduce advanced undergraduate students to this important method in heterocycle synthesis, which has been highly under-represented in the curriculum. It also introduces it in the context of a more complex ketone of biological relevance (a steroid). This laboratory exercise can be used to teach about Green Chemistry Principles, product analysis (TLC, NMR, MS, UV–vis), and a complex multistep mechanism. It can also act as a starting point to teach terpenoid biosynthesis, some key concepts in medicinal chemistry such as pharmacophores and pro-drugs, and even to open discussions on the societal impacts of steroids
Investigating the Efficacy of DNA Damage with Bleach in Forensic Laboratories and at Crime Scenes
Get PDFHousehold/commercial bleach (6% NaOCl, sodium hypochlorite) degrades DNA through oxidative damage, production of chlorinated base products, and cleavage of DNA strands (breaking it into smaller and smaller fragments). The presence of these lesions significantly impacts the ability to generate a full genetic profile from an evidentiary sample. In fact, knowledge of the damaging effect of bleach on DNA is the basis for its use in forensic laboratories to clean workbenches and prevent cross-contamination of samples between cases. Additionally, bleach is used intentionally by criminals to clean up crime scenes and destroy DNA evidence. A previous study demonstrated that bleach has a decreased effect on native DNA that is still encompassed within a body fluid (compared to naked DNA that has already been extracted) (Ambers et al. 2014). This research project expanded on the previous study, with an increased sample size and expanded data set. Numerous variables were tested, including dried blood, wet (uncoagulated) blood, native DNA, naked DNA, dried semen, wet (liquid) semen, and varying concentrations of bleach. DNA in whole human blood or semen (native conformation) and extracted (naked) DNA were immersed in two different concentrations of bleach for a 1-hour exposure period. Solid-phase DNA extraction and human-DNA-specific quantification revealed that sufficient quantities of DNA were recovered for STR typing, for both native and naked DNA templates and after exposure to both bleach concentrations (with higher DNA recovery from native samples vs. naked templates)
Small Island Taphonomy in Western Australia
Get PDFForensic death investigations rely on postmortem interval estimations to establish a timeline surrounding a decedent’s death. Several methods are used, often together, to make such estimations. One of the main methods is the evaluation of the stage of decomposition; although decomposition follows the same general steps, the length of the process can vary by location and environmental factors. Animal scavenging can also impact decomposition by consuming flesh and impacting insect activity on the remains.
This study investigates the scavenging guilds and rate of decomposition of pig (Sus scrofa) legs on Rottnest Island, Australia. Three sites with unique environments were selected for the study: Bickley Point (marine), Forbes Hill (terrestrial), and Lake Baghdad (hypersaline).
The legs were placed on the ground at each location and secured with ropes, although experimental setup varied by site as needed. Photographs and video imagery were used to monitor the legs. The imagery was processed, and information regarding the experimental day, date, scavenging species, time of event, and event duration was recorded for each scavenging event. The stage of decomposition was assessed daily. Temperature, light intensity, humidity, and depth data were collected by data loggers.
The scavenging guilds observed at each site varied greatly, as expected. The primary marine scavengers were the Australian herring (Arripis georgianus), Banded Sweep (Scorpis georgiana), Brownspotted Wrasse (Notolabrus parilus), and Weeping Toadfish (Torquigener pleurogramma). The King’s skink (Egernia kingii) was the primary terrestrial scavenger. No scavenging on the hypersaline legs was observed.
The rate of decomposition also varied by site. All marine legs were in the water for only one day, so decomposition stages could not be assessed. The terrestrial legs remained fresh for two days post-deployment before the active decay began, and the legs became desiccated. The hypersaline leg remained fresh for two days before the bloat stage began and persisted for the remainder of the experiment
Human Crowding or Spatial Crowding? The Impact of Perceived Crowding on In-store Impulse Purchase
Get PDFThe influence of shopper\u27s perception of the physical environmental factors on impulse buying at the retail level has attracted the attention of researchers since the last three decades but the role of perceived crowding and in-store browsing attracted little attention. This paper attempts to develop and empirically valid a model to investigate the role of perceived crowding and in-store browsing in impulse buying along with the psychological variables. Mall-intercept survey technique was used to collect data from 335 participants from 18 branches of a supermarket chain in different parts of Kolkata. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Contrary to prior research the relationship between human crowding and other variables in the model was not supported whereas spatial crowding was found to have significant negative impact in impulse buying. The findings are discussed along with managerial implications and scopes for future research
Evaluating Quality of Matrimonial Websites: Balancing Emotions with Economics
Get PDFThere are a plethora of studies evaluating the quality of websites on functional and design-related aspects such as usability and visual parameters. The majority of these studies are related to e-commerce websites where individuals make decision largely relying on economic parameters. However, matrimonial websites are unique, as the decisions involve both economic and non-economic parameters. Therefore, this study aims to propose a framework to evaluate quality of matrimonial websites by incorporating contextual factors and examine differences among different groups of users. This study proffers a website evaluating framework considering non-economic and emotion based factors from the information systems (IS) success model and the search match interaction (SMI) framework. The study proposes a hybrid model of multi-criteria decision-making techniques—namely Fuzzy-AHP and ranking models such as evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS), technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), and complex proportional assessment (COPRAS). The results indicate that the context-specific factors related to search and matchmaking options are the most preferred parameters for evaluation. Males and females have been found to differ in their preferences related to service quality and price. Next, the study compares the performance of three ranking models, namely EDAS, TOPSIS, and COPRAS. The first and second models provide similar results, while the rankings obtained through COPRAS differ slightly. The study contributes towards website evaluation literature by highlighting the importance of contextual factors while evaluating the matrimonial websites and the differences among preferences of the users
Studying the Repair Enzyme DNA Polymerase Beta Isoforms and Cell Viability in a Neuroblastoma Model Exposed to the Oxidative Stress Menadione
No full textThe DNA Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway is involved in repairing many types of DNA damages such as oxidation. This study investigates the effect of the oxidative stress menadione on expression of a key BER enzyme called DNA polymerase beta (POLB) in neuroblastoma (BE(2)C), neuron-like (HEK-293), and human lung fibroblast (MRC-5) cell lines. This was accomplished through cell viability analysis, reverse transcription-PCR, sequencing, quantitative PCR, mRNA and protein folding prediction, and flow cytometry. Results demonstrated that BE(2)C and HEK-293 are sensitive to relatively low doses of oxidative stress, particularly 25 uM menadione, but are resistant to high doses of hydrogen peroxide. Regardless of exposure oxidative stress, several splicing variants of POLB including exons 2, 4, and 9 were detected across all cell lines, though the most common was the exon 2 deleted isoform. Despite lower expression of POLB as a whole, this exon 2 deleted POLB variant was expressed at higher levels in BE(2)C cancer cells in both the normal condition and after exposure to menadione, whereas it was expressed more in HEK-293 after exposure to menadione. mRNA and protein folding suggest that the POLB isoforms, particularly the exon 2 deleted variant, may have a role as mRNA molecules rather than proteins. This role could be involved in oxidative stress pathways or could be related to apoptosis resistance since the BE(2)C cells which express more of the exon 2 deleted variant were observed to decrease in apoptosis after exposure to menadione unlike HEK-293 and MRC-5. The results from this study suggest that the presence of upregulated exon 2 deleted POLB isoforms may be a potential biomarker for cancers that may become aggressive and resistant to therapies
Investigating the Role of the 5’UTR region of TMEV in Viral Myocarditis
Get PDFViral myocarditis is described as the inflammation of the heart muscle, and it is a common condition that can affect the heart. It is estimated that myocarditis causes 1.5 million deaths annually. In mice, Theiler’s encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) is a common cause of myocarditis. This non-attenuated virus can be used in a cell culture model system to study viral replication and persistence. These processes have been linked to the severity of the heart damage, which in most clinical scenarios, can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy. The 5’ untranslated region (5‘UTR) found in the viral genome of TMEV is well known to control viral replication. In particular, the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) elements of the 5\u27UTRs are involved in the replication and translation regulation. In patients suffering from chronic myocarditis, the IRES has been found to acquire deletions, suggesting a strong correlation between mutations, viral persistence and pathogenicity. Similarly, deletions in the 5’UTR secondary loop regions have been linked to increased viral infections. The goal of the research project is to study the 5’UTR region of TMEV to understand its role in viral replication and persistence. During the course of this research project, I designed a cloning strategy to generate four recombinant deletion viruses to test their ability to infect primary cardiac cells. The designed deletions maintained the secondary RNA structures loop, which is important for the recognition of the virus by the host’s immune system. In summary, this research will help to better understand the role of 5’UTR elements in regulation of viral replication and its contribution to myocarditis
Punk Legends: Cultural Representation and Ostension
Get PDFThis chapter analyzes two legendary images of punk that circulate prominently in popular media. Although the two images are mutually exclusive and only describe partial aspects of punk as a whole, their broad circulation and investment of audiences in either story have real-life consequences. The chapter therefore holds that researching the images of subcultures should be a central concern for subculture studies
Phenotypic Analysis of S. aureus strains from University Student Health Centers and Environmental Controls
Get PDFMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a group of pathogenic bacterial strains resistant to a class of antibiotics that is a major cause for concern in health care systems. There is a lack of study in whether health care centers are reservoirs for these bacteria, especially within developed countries. Five environmental swab samples were collected from five different university health care centers across the region, and 16 swab samples from a general university environment. Any isolated bacterial strains collected underwent five biochemical tests (mannitol fermentation, DNase activity, oxidase activity, catalase activity, and coagulase activity) to preliminarily identify S. aureus bacteria. 24% of the clinical samples and 25% of environmental samples contained S. aureus, signifying an equal distribution of the species among the two location groups. In addition, extensive literature review showed how isolated S. aureus strains can easily be characterized as MRSA, through antibiotic disc-diffusion testing and genetic sequencing of the potential SCCmec region. This genetic sequencing can also identify SCCmec type and class, identifiers useful in comparison to current MRSA studies