This paper investigates the sensitivities of Singapore’s sectoral industrial production to local and global business cycle variations using the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) model in the ...nonlinear and asymmetric cointegration framework. By employing monthly time series data from Jan 1983 to Dec 2022 the study corroborates the commonly held view that durable industries are pro-cyclic to thelocal business cycle. However, the nature of cyclic sensitivity is different if viewed from a global perspective. Industries including pharmaceutical, computer, and motor vehicles industries flourish in both the local and global business cycle booms. Almost all industries having long-run linkages with global industrial production are also affected by global production growth in the short run. However, consistent with earlier studies for Southeast Asian countries, very few industries exhibit short-run asymmetries in their relationship with local and global business cycles. We found that incorporating long-run information also improves the forecasting ability of sectoral industrial production growth in Singapore.
Cancer is a frightful disease and represents one of the biggest health-care issues for the human race and demands a proactive strategy for cure. Plants are reservoirs for novel chemical entities and ...provide a promising line for research on cancer. Hitherto, being effective, chemotherapy is accompanied by certain unbearable side effects. Nevertheless,plants and plant derived products is a revolutionizing field as these are Simple, safer, ecofriendly, low-cost, fast, and less toxic as compared with conventional treatment methods.Phytochemicals are selective in their functions and acts specifically on tumor cells without affecting normal cells. Carcinogenesis is complex phenomena that involves many signaling cascades. Phytochemicals are considered suitable candidates for anticancer drug development due to their pleiotropic actions on target events with multiple manners. The research is in progress for developing potential candidates(those can block or slow down the growth of cancer cells without any side effects) from these phytochemicals. Many phytochemicals and their derived analogs have been identified as potential candidates for anticancer therapy. Effort has been made through this comprehensive review to highlight the recent developments and milestones achieved in cancer therapies using phytomolecules with their mechanism of action on nuclear and cellular factors. Furthermore, drugs for cancer treatment and their limitations have also been discussed.
The Kalman filter variants extended Kalman filter (EKF) and error-state Kalman filter (ESKF) are widely used in underwater multi-sensor fusion applications for localization and navigation. Since ...these filters are designed by employing first-order Taylor series approximation in the error covariance matrix, they result in a decrease in estimation accuracy under high nonlinearity. In order to address this problem, we proposed a novel multi-sensor fusion algorithm for underwater vehicle localization that improves state estimation by augmentation of the radial basis function (RBF) neural network with ESKF. In the proposed algorithm, the RBF neural network is utilized to compensate the lack of ESKF performance by improving the innovation error term. The weights and centers of the RBF neural network are designed by minimizing the estimation mean square error (MSE) using the steepest descent optimization approach. To test the performance, the proposed RBF-augmented ESKF multi-sensor fusion was compared with the conventional ESKF under three different realistic scenarios using Monte Carlo simulations. We found that our proposed method provides better navigation and localization results despite high nonlinearity, modeling uncertainty, and external disturbances.
Existing literature has relied on economic fundamentals (EFs) to determine commodity price booms and busts. This framework has been unable to account for major economic non-fundamentals (ENFs). This ...study takes a broader view of major ENFs that expands beyond the traditional demand and supply indicators to evaluate the response of commodity price booms and busts at both aggregate and disaggregate levels. To obtain consistent estimates, this study utilizes the advantages of the dynamic fixed-effect within instrumental variable method as an estimator to evaluate the behavior of 37 agricultural, energy, and metal commodity prices over 1980–2020. Our results indicate that relative to EFs, ENFs are the predominant driving force of commodity price booms and bursts at aggregate levels. In the case of EFs, the demand-side stimulates commodity prices, whereas the supply-side tends to depress them; however, the former effect tends to outweigh the latter effect. However, on the ENFs front, the dollar-denominated variable is one of the most powerful factors behind commodity price soars and bursts. Meanwhile, at the disaggregate level, the impact of EFs and ENFs is in tandem with that of the aggregate-level commodities. However, world uncertainty tends to depress the prices of energy and metal commodities. Our analysis implies that global demand and supply generated booms and busts in commodity prices have macroeconomic effects on both exporting and importing economies. Along with that, policymakers may need to consider the role of the rise and fall in the value of the dollar as well as that of the financialization of commodities, which were found to have a significant effect on commodity price booms and busts. Countries thus need to devise policies that may help moderate the negative effects of world uncertainty and geopolitical risk.
•Lactobacillus spp have been declared a natural component of food.•Probiotics possibly modulate the process of muscle fiber regeneration by adjusting the composition of gut microbiota.•Histologic ...analysis of the cross-section of the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle transplants from control and Lactobacillus rhamnosus-supplemented mice during different stages of regeneration.•Probiotics used for maintaining mitochondrial function ultimately boost the progression of regeneration.•Probiotic-supplemented EDL muscle orthotranplant were in a more advanced stage of regeneration than the control EDL muscle grafts.•Lactobacillus increases in number of EDL muscle fibers and their cross-sectional area.•Probiotics had a positive effect on muscle fiber growth during the regeneration process after orthotropic grafting.
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of probiotic supplementation on extensor digitorum longus (EDL) regeneration after grafting in mice.
EDL muscles were ortho-transplanted in mice. The experimental group was given 1 × 108 colony-forming units/g body weight of Lactobacillus rhamnosus daily after EDL muscle transplantation surgeries. EDL muscle transplants were recovered after 3, 5, 7, and 14 d post-transplantation from the control as well as the experimental animals and processed for histologic analysis.
At day 3 post-transplantation, the inflammatory cells had infiltrated into the grafted EDL muscles and the central section of the grafted tissue contained necrotic fibers. At day 5 post-transplantation, the concentration of inflammatory cells increased further and degenerative muscle fibers were being replaced with centrally nucleated muscle cells. The average cross-sectional area non-grafted EDL and grafted muscle in the probiotic supplemented mice at day 7 increased to 48% and 23% (P = 0.002), respectively, compared with the respective values in the control animals. Whereas in non-grafted and grafted EDL muscle it could approach 8% and 36% (P = 0.008), respectively at 14 d compared with the corresponding values of the control EDL muscle transplants. The number of muscle fibers in the non-grafted and grafted probiotic-supplemented groups increased to12% and 20% (P = 0.045) at day 7 compared with the control EDL muscle. In non-grafted and grafted EDL muscle, the number of regenerated muscle fibers increased to 73% and 64% (P = 0.110) at day 14 compared with control EDL grafted muscle.
Results of the present study regarding better regeneration of skeletal muscle fibers in the probiotic-supplemented mice than the control grafts warrant further molecular-level investigation to understand the underlying mechanism mediating the process of skeletal muscle fiber regeneration. Probiotics possibly modulate the process of muscle fiber regeneration by adjusting the composition of gut microbiota.
The quality and quantity of groundwater resources are affected by landuse/landcover (LULC) dynamics, particularly the increasing urbanization coupled with high household wastewater discharge and ...decreasing open lands. This study evaluates temporal changes of groundwater quality for 2012 and 2019, its relation to Landuse/landcover, and its impact on Peshawar's residents (study area), Pakistan. A total of 105 and 112 groundwater samples were collected from tube wells in 2012 and 2019. Samples were then analyzed for seven standard water quality parameters (i.e., pH, electric conductivity (EC), turbidity, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and nitrate). Patient data for waterborne diseases were also collected for the years 2012 and 2019 to relate the impact of groundwater quality on human health. Landsat satellite images were classified for the years 2012 and 2019 to observe landuse/landcover dynamics concerning groundwater quality. Results manifested a decrease in groundwater quality for the year 2019 compared to 2012 and were more highlighted in highly populated areas. The nitrate concentration level was found high in the vicinity of agricultural areas due to the excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizers and pesticides, and thus the methemoglobinemia patients ratio increased by 14% (48-62% for the year 2012 and 2019, respectively). Besides, Urinary Tract Infections, Peptic Ulcer, and Dental Caries diseases increased due to the high calcium and magnesium concentration. The overall results indicate that anthropogenic activities were the main driver of Spatio-temporal variability in groundwater quality of the study area. The study could help district health administration understand groundwater quality trends, make appropriate site-specific policies, and formulate future health regulations.
This study explores the effects of a toxic workplace environment (TWE) on employee engagement (EE). Building on conservation of resources (COR) theory and organizational support theory (OST), this ...study proposed a research model. In this research model, a toxic workplace environment negatively affected employee engagement, directly and indirectly, through organizational support (OS) and employee well-being (EW). In this study, we used a quantitative research approach, and data were collected from 301 workers employed in the small and medium-size enterprises of China. To estimate the proposed relationships of the research model, we used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM 3.2.2). The results of this study confirmed that a toxic workplace environment has a negative impact on employee engagement. Moreover, the findings of this research confirm that organizational support and employee well-being significantly mediate a toxic workplace environment and employee engagement. The conclusions of this study are as follows: First, the direct relationship between a toxic workplace environment and employee engagement confirms that if employees are working in a toxic environment, they will spread negative feelings among other co-workers. The feelings that come with a toxic workplace environment, i.e., harassment, bullying, and ostracism, can be detrimental and lead to unnecessary stress, burnout, depression, and anxiety among the workers. Second, employee well-being will affect employee behaviors that enhance employee engagement with the work as well as with the organization. Third, organizational support also increases employee engagement with the work as well as with the organization. So, it is also confirmed that when workers perceive the support from the organization, their sense of belonging to the organization is strengthened.
The present study aims to investigate the impact of climate change technologies on green growth for a panel of overall European economies, Eastern, and Western European economies over 2000 to 2017. ...The study estimates the STIRPAT (stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology) and IPAT (human impact, population, affluence, and technology) models with a particulate focus to address the issue of cross-sectional dependence and cross-sectional heterogeneity in the model by using Westerlund cointegration approach and fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) approach. After confirming the cointegration relationship, the findings indicate that in the case of IPAT model, energy-related climate change technology contributes towards green growth, while in case of STRIPAT model, environment-related budget tends to have favorable impact on green growth. However, other variables, such as transport and production-related climate change technologies along with energy consumption, tend to have negative impact on green growth. The findings are almost robust concerning Eastern and Western Europe. The findings indicate that renewable energy is pro-growth and thus the authorities concerned need to promote and encourage the use of renewable energy. In this regard, the role of public-private-partnership is important as well as policymakers need to allocate environment-related specific budget and extend exemption in taxes on the use of environment-friendly technologies. Renewable energy programs ensure an improved return on green growth, although costly to implement. Attention needs to be focused on technologies related to wind power, solar electricity, biogas for electricity and heat generation, and biofuels for transport from low initial levels. Thus, policymakers should focus on the positive impact of environmental regulations. Polluting industries should be taxed to adopt clean technologies and clean industries should be supported with tax exemption as an incentive. Moreover, the research and development (R&D) budget should be increased.
The aim of this study to examine how critical success factors (CSFs) affect the project success (PS), directly and indirectly, using the despotic leadership (DL) as a mediating variable. Critical ...success factors with multiple dimensions, such as organizational factors, team factors, technical factors, and communication factors, were used in this study. In this study, we used a questionnaire survey approach. The data were collected from the project directors, project managers, functional managers, and team leaders working in the renewable energy project of Pakistan. For data analysis, we used the partial least squares structural equation modeling through SmartPLS 3.2. The outcomes indicate that team factors and communication factors have a positive and significant relationship with PS in the direct relationship. At the same time, organization factors and technical factors were insignificant in the direct relationship with PS. Moreover, to examine the mediating effects of despotic leadership, we have examined the indirect effects of critical success factors on PS. The findings of this study indicate that DL is not mediated between organizational factors and PS in the indirect relationship. However, DL negatively mediates between three factors (team, technical, and communication) of critical success factors on project success. This paper concludes that despotic leaders go beyond controlling and self-serving behaviour and are engaged in exploitative and unethical acts that can drain project resources, which reduce the success and sustainability of renewable energy projects.
PDF
