E Journals and Impact

This study analyzes the role of banks in financing the agriculture and manufacturing sectors in Nigeria from 1981-2010. Data were generated from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin (2010) and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential techniques. Two multiple regression models were estimated using the Software Package for social Sciences (SPSS). The tolerance values are greater than zero in the estimated models. The absence of multicollinearity among the independent variables (IVs) is further supported by an engenval that is less than 0.5. The descriptive results show that Nigeria's commercial and merchant banks lagged behind in financing agriculture when compared to manufacturing. Average bank credit to agriculture, within the period, ranged between 9.0% and 10.1%. Average bank credit to the manufacturing sector ranged between 32.0% and 36.8%. Within the period, average contribution of agriculture to GDP was 33.5% while contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP averaged 5.4%. The inferential results show a significantly weak correlation between commercial bank lending and the contribution of agriculture to GDP. However, there is a significantly positive correlation between merchant bank lending and agricultural contribution to GDP. The beta coefficient shows that agricultural contribution to GDP increased significantly by 48.22% with a 100% increase in merchant bank lending to agriculture. With a 100% increase in commercial bank lending, the contribution of manufacturing to GDP declined by 27.32%. However, the contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP increased by 40.08% as merchant bank lending to manufacturing increased by 100%. There is also a significantly inverse correlation between commercial bank lending and manufacturing contribution to GDP. The model R 2 shows that 23.04% of the variation in agricultural contribution to GDP is explained by an increase in bank lending to the sector. It also shows that 18.75% of the variation in manufacturing contribution to GDP is explained by a change in aggregate lending. The results, however, indicate that the role of banks in facilitating the contribution of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors to economic growth is still significantly limited. The rise of numerous public intervention funding programs in these sectors is evidence of the lagging banking intermediation. The growing risk aversion of Nigerian banks is indicative of the liquidity and funding shortages in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Monetary policy should, therefore, emphasize mandatory sectoral allocation of credit with appropriate incentives to boost the flow of bank credit to these sectors.

This paper presents the results of the second phase of a Research Information Network study, which sought to establish the impact of e-journals on the scholarly behaviour of researchers in the UK. The first phase of the project was a deep log analysis of the usage and information seeking behaviour of researchers in connection with the ScienceDirect and Oxford Journals databases. This paper reports on the second phase, which sought to explain and provide context for the deep log data by taking the questions raised by the quantitative study to the research community via interview, questionnaire and observation. Nine major research institutions took part, six subjects were covered and the behaviour of about 1400 people was analyzed. Findings show that academic journals have become central to all disciplines and that the e-form is the prime means of access. Most importantly the study demonstrates that computer usage logs provide an accurate picture of online behaviour. High levels of gateway service use point to the re-intermediating of the broken chain between publisher and reader.

The CATS (FAM64A) protein interacts with CALM (PICALM) and the leukemic fusion protein CALM/AF10. CATS is highly expressed in leukemia, lymphoma and tumor cell lines and its protein levels strongly correlates with cellular proliferation in both malignant and normal cells. In order to obtain further insight into CATS function we performed an extensive analysis of CATS expression during differentiation of leukemia cell lines. While CATS expression decreased during erythroid, megakaryocytic and monocytic differentiation, a markedly increase was observed in the ATRA induced granulocytic differentiation. Lentivirus mediated silencing of CATS in U937 cell line resulted in somewhat reduced proliferation, altered cell cycle progression and lower migratory ability in vitro; however was not sufficient to inhibit tumor growth in xenotransplant model. Of note, CATS knockdown resulted in reduced clonogenicity of CATS-silenced cells and reduced expression of the self-renewal gene, GLI-1. Moreover, retroviral mediated overexpression of the murine Cats in primary bone marrow cells lead to decreased colony formation. Although our in vitro data suggests that CATS play a role in cellular processes important for tumorigenesis, such as cell cycle control and clonogenicity, these effects were not observed in vivo.

Importanţa nanoparticulelor metalice este dată de performanţele lor magnetice, electronice şi optice. Ca urmare a proprietăţilor specifice, ele au multe aplicaţii ca biosenzori şi catalizatori în biomedicină şi in domeniului mediului. Scopul acestei lucrări este prezentarea metodei de obţinere şi analiză a filmelor polimerice pe bază de Ag/alcool polivinilic/acid tanic. Nanoparticulele de Ag au fost preparate prin reducerea AgNO 3 utilizând diferiţi agenţi de reducere (alcool polivinilic sau acid tanic) prin sinteză în câmp de microunde. Nanoparticulele de Ag (soluţii şi film) au fost caracterizate prin spectroscopie UV -VIS , FTIR şi DLS (Dinamic Light Scattering).

Uterine carcinosarcomas (UCS) are rare (3-4%) but highly aggressive, accounting for a disproportionately high (16.4%) mortality among uterine malignancies. Transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) is a multifunctional cytokine that regulates important cellular processes including epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Existence of biphasic elements and a report demonstrating amplification of TGFβ at 19q13.1 prompted us to investigate the role of TGFβ signaling in UCS.Here we demonstrated the components of TGFβ pathway are expressed and functional in UCS. TGFβ-I induced significant Smad2/3 phosphorylation, migration and EMT responses in UCS cell lines which could be attenuated by the TGFβ receptor I (TGFβR-I) or TGFβ receptor I/II (TGFβR-I/II) inhibitor developed by Eli Lilly and company. Importantly, TGFβ-I induced proliferation was c-Myc dependent, likely through activation of cell cycle. c-Myc was induced by nuclear translocation of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT-1) in ...

The discovery of inhibitors for oncogenic signalling pathways remains a key focus in modern oncology, based on personalized and targeted therapeutics. Computational drug repurposing via the analysis of FDA-approved drug network is becoming a very effective approach to identify therapeutic opportunities in cancer and other human diseases. Given that gene expression signatures can be associated with specific oncogenic mutations, we tested whether a "reverse" oncogene-specific signature might assist in the computational repositioning of inhibitors of oncogenic pathways. As a proof of principle, we focused on oncogenic PI3K-dependent signalling, a molecular pathway frequently driving cancer progression as well as raising resistance to anticancer-targeted therapies. We show that implementation of "reverse" oncogenic PI3K-dependent transcriptional signatures combined with interrogation of drug networks identified inhibitors of PI3K-dependent signalling among FDA-approved compounds. This led to repositioning of Niclosamide (Niclo) and Pyrvinium Pamoate (PP), two anthelmintic drugs, as inhibitors of oncogenic PI3K-dependent signalling. Niclo inhibited phosphorylation of P70S6K, while PP inhibited phosphorylation of AKT and P70S6K, which are downstream targets of PI3K. Anthelmintics inhibited oncogenic PI3K-dependent gene expression and showed a cytostatic effect in vitro and in mouse mammary gland. Lastly, PP inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells harbouring PI3K mutations. Our data indicate that drug repositioning by network analysis of oncogene-specific transcriptional signatures is an efficient strategy for identifying oncogenic pathway inhibitors among FDA-approved compounds. We

Forest is one of the important sources of fuelwood and has been meeting energy requirement of most the rural poor. Due to continued depletion of forest cover and density, the sustainability of fuelwood is questioned. The ever increasing demand and poor return of the forest has to be catered with innovative technology and judicious use of fuelwood. Biomass can be converted into useful energy by way of thermal, chemical and biochemical conversion, depending on the composition of the fuel and the desired energy carrier product. However woody biomass is still in the early stages of energy production. The paper is basically discussing the potential of tropical forest in producing biomass and envisaged technological intervention so that the forests can be managed sustainably.

Experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of an organic fertilizer and supplementary feeds on the growth performance of silver carp(Hypophthalmichthysmolitrix ) and bata (Cirrhinusreba) fry for a period of 90 days.It was carried out under 3 (three)treatmentswere consisted of mustard oil cake (T 1 ), cow dung (T 2 ) and rice bran + mustard oil cake (T 3 ) with each three replications. The fries were initially fed at the rate of 30% of body weight and it was reduced to 15% gradually. The rate of cow dung application was 988 kg/ha. During the experimental period, the water parameters werein suitable range.The average weight gain of silver carp and bata in T 3 (4.69±0.17 g and 2.05±0.08 g) was significantly ((p<0.05) higher than those of T 1 (3.00±0.16g and 1.81±0.02 g) and T 2 (2.32±0.09 g and 1.19±0.13 g). The survival rate was found significant 59.12, 55.05 and 63.33 % for Silver carp and 52.15, 51.10 and 55.18 % for bata in T 1, T 2 and T 3 respectively. The SGR of silver carp and bata in T 3 (2.55±0.43%bwd -1 and 2.29±0.08%bwd -1 ) was significantly ((p<0.05) higher than those of T 1 (2.32±0.46%bwd -1 and 1.95±0.47 %bwd -1 ) and T 2 (1.91±0.40 %bwd -1 and 1.72±0.28 %bwd -1 ). Among the treatments, significantly highest production of Silver carp and Bata(2276.01±85.95 and1855.38±35.95 kg/ha)was achieved from T 3 followed by T 1 (2116±6.72 and 1745.98±12.31 kg/ha) and T 2 (2058.48±26.68 and 1432.82±16.82 kg/ha).

La proliferación de recursos electrónicos, los avances tecnológicos e internet ha llevado a un cambio dramático en las operaciones de las bibliotecas, casas editoriales y agentes de suscripciones. Sin duda las unidades de información utilizan a los agentes de suscripción para concentrar pedidos, facturas y pagos. El agente, a su vez, paga directamente al editor en nombre de varias unidades de información para que los clientes/ bibliotecas cuenten con la información solicitada. En este trabajo, se describen las características y expectativas de las publicaciones periódicas electrónicas además de sus ventajas frente al impreso. Se menciona a los proveedores de in-formación. Se analiza el rol del agente de suscripciones en el ambiente digital, lo que incluye el proceso de la gestión del acceso a las revistas electrónicas. Se mencionan los tipos de suscripciones, costos y los sistemas de validación.
Abstract The proliferation of electronic resources, technological advances and the Internet has led to a dramatic change in the operations of libraries, publishers and subscription agents. The libraries used agents to concentrate subscription orders, invoices and payments. The agent paid directly to the publisher on behalf of multiple libraries so that customers have the information requested.This paper mentions the main characteristics and expectation of electronic journals and their advantages over the printed journals. The role of the subscription agent is analyzed in the digital environment , which includes the process of managing access to electronic journals. We describe the main types of information providers, also how subscriptions are offered and validation systems for access to the e-journal.

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This book is designed to help English as Second Language scholars get published in English language peer-reviewed journals. Even though there are many books on academic writing and publishing, the needs of ESL Scholars are unique. The authors provide specific guidance to write strong, scholarly articles and tips to overcome the challenges of creating those articles in a language that is not their first. Scholars from the sciences, arts and humanities, professional disciplines, and the behavioral and social sciences learn a step-wise approach from generating ideas, through creating the architecture of an article, to managing the peer review process.

The aim of this study was to clarify the synergistic effects of dual inhibition of the PI3K/mTOR and MAPK pathways in ovarian mucinous carcinoma (OMC) cells, using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging. We exposed 6 OMC cell lines to a PI3K/mTOR inhibitor (voxtalisib, SAR245409) and/or a MEK inhibitor (pimasertib), and evaluated synergistic effects using the Chou-Talalay method. Then, S6K (PI3K pathway) and ERK (MAPK pathway) kinase activities, and their individual proliferative or cytotoxic effects were calculated by time-lapse FRET imaging. In combination with SAR245409, pimasertib (30 nM) synergistically inhibited cell growth (combination indexes: 0.03-0.5) and induced apoptosis in all 6 OMC cell lines. FRETimaging results demonstrated that ERK inhibition induced both anti-proliferation and apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner in both MCAS and OAW42 cells. However, S6K inhibition suppressed proliferation in a threshold manner in both cell lines, although apoptosis was only induced in OAW42 cells. These results demonstrated that combined PI3K/mTOR and MEK inhibition exhibited synergistic antitumor effects in OMC cells and that FRET imaging is useful for analyzing kinase activities in live cells and elucidating their cytostatic and cytotoxic effects.

Experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of an organic fertilizer and supplementary feeds on the growth performance of silver carp(Hypophthalmichthysmolitrix) and bata (Cirrhinusreba) fry for a period of 90 days.It was carried out under 3 (three)treatmentswere consisted of mustard oil cake (T 1), cow dung (T 2) and rice bran + mustard oil cake (T 3) with each three replications. The fries were initially fed at the rate of 30% of body weight and it was reduced to 15% gradually. The rate of cow dung application was 988 kg/ha. During the experimental period, the water parameters werein suitable range.The average weight gain of silver carp and bata in T 3 (4.69±0.17 g and 2.05±0.08 g) was significantly ((p<0.05) higher than those of T 1 (3.00±0.16g and 1.81±0.02 g) and T 2 (2.32±0.09 g and 1.19±0.13 g). The survival rate was found significant 59.12, 55.05 and 63.33 % for Silver carp and 52.15, 51.10 and 55.18 % for bata in T 1, T 2 and T 3 respectively. The SGR of silver carp and bata in T 3 (2.55±0.43%bwd-1 and 2.29±0.08%bwd-1) was significantly ((p<0.05) higher than those of T 1 (2.32±0.46%bwd-1 and 1.95±0.47 %bwd-1) and T 2 (1.91±0.40 %bwd-1 and 1.72±0.28 %bwd-1). Among the treatments, significantly highest production of Silver carp and Bata(2276.01±85.95 and1855.38±35.95 kg/ha)was achieved from T 3 followed by T 1 (2116±6.72 and 1745.98±12.31 kg/ha) and T 2 (2058.48±26.68 and 1432.82±16.82 kg/ha).

In Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC), about two-thirds of patients present an advanced stage disease at diagnosis, either due to a regional lymph node involvement, and/or a large tumor size [1]. Aggressive treatment protocols, such as surgery, followed by radiation therapy (RT) with or without concomitant chemotherapy (CT) [2] are used in this curative situation. Cisplatin based chemoradiotherapy remains one of the great standard of care in this situation, as the same matter as carboplatin + 5-Fluorouracil or cetuximab in combination. However cisplatin scheme is related to long-term severe side effects or premature CT disruption. Suboptimal CT dosing may impact negatively on disease-free survival [3]. In parallel, targeted therapies now take a major place in anti-cancer treatment, particularly in HNSCC where Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)'s overexpression, is associated with a poor prognosis [4]. Cetuximab, a mousehuman chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against

This thesis reports the adoption process of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Halal transportation control within Malaysian Halal logistic service providers (Halal LSPs). Transportation in Halal logistics is one of the key elements in ensuring the integrity of Halal goods delivered from farm to fork. Thus, many Halal LSPs in Malaysia have been looking for ways to improve their transportation operation in Halal logistic through ICT based solutions. However adopting ICT in this area is challenging as indicated by low percentage of ICT based solutions adoptions among Malaysian Halal LSPs, despite the potential and benefits as indicated in literatures. In this study, data were collected from among the Malaysian Halal LSPs to identify factors influencing ICT adoption for monitoring Halal transportation operation. Roger‟s Innovation Decision Process Theory was used to identify the factors and to develop the ICT adoption conceptual framework and guidelines for Halal LSPs. ...

This study examined Gender disparity in net primary school enrolment among the districts of Punjab (Pakistan). The secondary data of 34 districts of Punjab is used for this study. The study found that there exist wide disparities in primary school enrolment among the districts of Punjab. There is a high disparity in primary school enrolment in districts of lower Punjab as compared to the districts of upper and central Punjab. The disparity in net primary enrolment among the districts of Punjab have a negative relationship with number of schools, number of teachers, male adult literacy rate and female adult literacy rate and positive relationship with per capita income and poverty status.

This study examined 158 malaria and 182 control subjects in order to determine the associations between ABO blood group, secretor status and malaria infection. From each participant, 5 ml of venous blood was withdrawn for malaria parasite and ABO blood grouping tests and 2 ml of saliva was collected for determination of secretor status.

Structure of control system for AC-voltage controller STATCOM with fleecy basis controller is similar to a nonlinear PI controller. In this, we have used a feathery method of reasoning controller as opposed to normal PI controller. Standard managementler for STATCOM moreover two or three utilizations of PI controller get PI snatches by strategy for an experimentation approach gives control parameters to the best execution at a given administrators reason won't not be productive at a particular masters reason. This try proposes another out of the carton new association model kept up versatile PI association, which may self-switch the association, gets all through an unsettling sway. The parameters are changed in a way that mix-up sign is minimized. To get the fancied result, we ought to apply a standard based system. The standard base for FLC is made by the experience out of mulling over the execution of STATCOM. The normal structure is kept up in MATLAB/SIMULINK PC code environment.

Anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) is a rare, HPV-associated malignancy typically diagnosed in early stages and definitively treated with chemoradiation. In situations where patients exhibit metastatic or recurrent disease, treatment options are severely limited. In this study, molecular alterations were identified that could be used to aid in therapeutic decisions for patients with metastatic or recurrent anal squamous cell carcinoma. Specimens from patients with this cancer were tested via a multiplatform profiling service (Caris Life Sciences, Phoenix, AZ) consisting of gene sequencing, protein expression by immunohistochemistry, and gene amplification with in situ hybridization. Utilizing these techniques, novel treatment strategies that could be explored were identified, including potential benefit with anti-EGFR therapies, immune checkpoint inhibitors, topoisomerase inhibitors, and taxanes. The frequency of overexpression of proteins that mark resistance to chemotherapeutic d...

Microtubule targeting drugs like taxanes, vinca alkaloids, and epothilones are widely-used and effective chemotherapeutic agents that target the dynamic instability of microtubules and inhibit spindle functioning. However, these drugs have limitations associated with their production, solubility, efficacy and unwanted toxicities, thus driving the need to identify novel antimitotic drugs that can be used as anticancer agents. We have discovered and characterized the Microtubins (Microtubule inhibitors), a novel class of small synthetic compounds, which target tubulin to inhibit microtubule polymerization, arrest cancer cells predominantly in mitosis, activate the spindle assembly checkpoint and trigger an apoptotic cell death. Importantly, the Microtubins do not compete for the known vinca or colchicine binding sites. Additionally, through chemical synthesis and structure-activity relationship studies, we have determined that specific modifications to the Microtubin phenyl ring can a...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a driver of hepatocellular carcinoma, and two viral products, X and large surface antigen (LHBS), are viral oncoproteins. During chronic viral infection, immune-escape mutants on the preS2 region of LHBS (preS2-LHBS) are gain-of-function mutations that are linked to preneoplastic ground glass hepatocytes (GGHs) and early disease onset of hepatocellular carcinoma. Here, we show that preS2-LHBS provoked calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and triggered stored-operated calcium entry (SOCE). The activation of SOCE increased ER and plasma membrane (PM) connections, which was linked by ER- resident stromal interaction molecule-1 (STIM1) protein and PM-resident calcium release- activated calcium modulator 1 (Orai1). Persistent activation of SOCE induced centrosome overduplication, aberrant multipolar division, chromosome aneuploidy, anchorage-independent growth, and xenograft tumorigenesis in hepatocytes expressing preS2- LHBS. Chemical inhibition...

Both wild-type and mutated beta-amyloid (Aβ) peptides can elicit an immune response when delivered subcutaneously. However, only mutated forms of Aβ can sensitize dendritic cells when administered intravenously or intraperitoneally. To understand the role of mutation and delivery routes in creating immune responses, and the function of dendritic cells as therapeutic agents, we used fluorescent-conjugated WT Aβ1-40 (WT40) and artificially mutated Aβ1-40 (22W40) peptides to treat dendritic and Langerhans cells from young and/or old mice at different time points. The cell types were analyzed by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy to identify differences in function and antigen presentation, and Luminex and Western blots for cell activation and associated mechanisms. Our results demonstrated that the artificial mutant, 22W40, enhanced dendritic cell&#39;s phagocytosis and antigen presentation better than the WT40. Interestingly, Langerhans cells were more effective at early presentat...

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO) is an immunosuppressive molecule expressed by most human tumors. IDO levels correlate with poor prognosis in cancer patients and IDO inhibitors are under investigation to enhance endogenous anticancer immunosurveillance. Little is known of immune-independent functions of IDO relevant to cancer therapy. We show, for the first time, that IDO mediates human tumor cell resistance to a PARP inhibitor (olaparib), gamma radiation, cisplatin, and combined treatment with olaparib and radiation, in the absence of immune cells. Antisense-mediated reduction of IDO, alone and (in a synthetic lethal approach) in combination with antisense to the DNA repair protein BRCA2 sensitizes human lung cancer cells to olaparib and cisplatin. Antisense reduction of IDO decreased NAD+ in human tumor cells. NAD+ is essential for PARP activity and these data suggest that IDO mediates treatment resistance independent of immunity and at least partially due to a previously unrec...

A wide range of human malignancies displays aberrant activation of Hedgehog (HH)/GLI signaling, including cancers of the skin, brain, gastrointestinal tract and hematopoietic system. Targeting oncogenic HH/GLI signaling with small molecule inhibitors of the essential pathway effector Smoothened (SMO) has shown remarkable therapeutic effects in patients with advanced and metastatic basal cell carcinoma. However, acquired and de novo resistance to SMO inhibitors poses severe limitations to the use of SMO antagonists and urgently calls for the identification of novel targets and compounds.Here we report on the identification of the Dual-Specificity-Tyrosine-Phosphorylation-Regulated Kinase 1B (DYRK1B) as critical positive regulator of HH/GLI signaling downstream of SMO. Genetic and chemical inhibition of DYRK1B in human and mouse cancer cells resulted in marked repression of HH signaling and GLI1 expression, respectively. Importantly, DYRK1B inhibition profoundly impaired GLI1 expressi...

New delivery systems including liposomes have been developed to circumvent drug resistance. To enhance the antitumor efficacy of liposomes encapsulating anti-cancer agents, we used liposomes externally conjugated to the 20 residue peptide gH625. Physicochemical characterization of the liposome system showed a size of 140 nm with uniform distribution and high doxorubicin encapsulation efficiency. We evaluated the effects of increasing concentrations of liposomes encapsulating Doxo (LipoDoxo), liposomes encapsulating Doxo conjugated to gH625 (LipoDoxo-gH625), empty liposomes (Lipo) or free Doxo on growth inhibition of either wild type (A549) or doxorubicin-resistant (A549 Dx) human lung adenocarcinoma. After 72 h, we found that the growth inhibition induced by LipoDoxo-gH625 was higher than that caused by LipoDoxo with an IC50 of 1 and 0.3 μM in A549 and A549 Dx cells, respectively. The data on cell growth inhibition were paralleled by an higher oxidative stress and an increased uptak...