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We investigate the capital structure of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Japan during 2007-2019 to identify whether firm-specific determinants of leverage exhibit locational differences among Japanese prefectures. To do so, we propose a testing scheme that disentangles potential similarities across prefecture pairs. When we apply the proposed testing scheme by creating 1081 prefecture pairs, we find that the impact of the firm-specific determinants of leverage does not greatly differ between prefecture pairs in terms of both sign and magnitude in contrast to the significant difference found by conventional hypothesis testing. As a convenient tool for other geographical research, we also discuss that the proposed testing scheme is helpful for regional policy-making, specifically during period of external shocks, the latest of which could be regarded as the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Introduction: We aimed to assess the present knowledge, attitude and anxiety levels of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among healthcare workers at Ankara City Hospital. Materials and Methods: The study was implemented in the form of an online survey, based on voluntary participation and conducted on healthcare workers at the Ministry of Health Ankara City Hospital by using convenience sampling and snowball method between 30 May-2 July 2020. There were 28 questions on knowledge and 8 questions on attitude. The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was used to measure the anxiety level of the participants. The results were analyzed using the SPSS program. Results: Of the participants, 75% were females, 61.25% were nurses/midwives, and mean age was 34.5 ± 10.1 years. A significant portion of the participants (84.50%) had a moderate or adequate level of knowledge. The highest knowledge score in terms of their professions are doctors, followed by nurses/midwives. The most used resource (71.25%) by our participants was the Ministry of Health’s web page, posters and brochures. The knowledge adequacy of those who have a case algorithm is 1.8 times. Of the participants, 61.0 % demonstrated a positive attitude. 25.25% were gauged to have severe and moderate anxiety. Of the participants, 42.39% stated that anxiety causing reason was the future of their family in case of death in our study. The anxiety score of the female participants was higher than that of the men, young people were higher than the other age groups. There was no significant correlation between the level of knowledge and attitude;whereas a negative, weak correlation was identified between the level of knowledge and anxiety, and between attitude and anxiety. Conclusion: Although the knowledge level of the participants was found to be adequate, in-service training on infection control measures, especially on the use of personal protective equipment should be continued using official information, such as algorithms are designed and other sources by the Ministry of Health. Health workers, especially women and young people, should be monitored psychologically, treated and social support for them should be increased during the pandemic. Increasing knowledge and positive attitudes may be contribute to decrease anxiety scores.
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BACKGROUND AND AIM: E. coli are widely used for recombinant protein development, due to its low cost, ease of manipulation, and availability of well established molecular tools and techniques. Due to a lack of sophisticated machinery to undertake posttranslational modifications, the E. coli bacterial culture is limited in its ability to express more complex proteins, resulting in low solubility of the protein of interest that is generated as inclusion bodies. Although we were able to produce the recombinant SARS-CoV-2-S1 protein at high expression levels in our earlier investigation, we were also able to obtain nearly the whole protein as inclusion body. To overcome this problem, different solubility strategies have been tried. In this study, we developed an E.coli expression strategy based on the expression of the S1 protein as a fusion of SUMO fusion protein. METHODS: The DNA sequence of S1 protein was cloned into the pET SUMO expression vector, resulting in a construct expressing a N-terminal tag SUMO fusion protein. To achieve the high-level expression of S1, small scale expression conditions were optimized in E. coli BL21 (DE3) containing pET SUMO-S1 with different induction temperatures, times and IPTG concentrations. Additionally, different medium was also tested for the expression of S1 protein. For each parameter, solubility and expression of cell lysates from uninduced and induced cultures, plus the soluble and insoluble fractions from induced cultures were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western Blot. RESULTS: SDS-PAGE and Western Blot analysis showed the presence of a ∼83 kDa recombinant fusion protein. The maximum level of expression of the recombinant protein was observed at 30 , 4 h after induction with 0,55 mM IPTG. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the use of SUMO fusion tag partially increases the production of S1 protein in the form of soluble fractions and optimization studies continue.
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Aim: Due to restrictions during the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, smartphone, tablet and computer (STC) overuse might occur. There were some concerns that light sources which emit blue light might affect anterior and posterior segment structures. We investigated the effects of STC overuse on children's eyes during the pandemic. Materials and Methods: Sixty-four children's findings at baseline (the early period of the pandemic) (group 1) were compared with those after 1 year (group 2). Correlations between daily STC use time (DSTCUT) and the ocular parameters in group 2 were evaluated. Results: Compared to group 1, group 2 had longer DSTCUT (1.49 +/- 0.33 vs 5.62 +/- 0.57 hours, p<0.001), lower tear break-up time (TBUT) (12.70 +/- 1.45 vs 9.50 +/- 2.10 seconds, p=0.015), higher ocular surface disease index (OSDI) score (14.52 +/- 4.19 vs 25.22 +/- 5.75, p=0.007), more myopic spherical equivalent refraction (SER) (-1.00 +/- 0.30 vs-1.80 +/- 0.40 dioptres, p=0.031), and greater axial length (22.69 +/- 0.43 vs 23.42 +/- 0.37 millimetres, p=0.038). Schirmer tests, central corneal thicknesses (CCT), keratometries, anterior chamber depths (ACD), lens thicknesses (LT), retinal nerve fibre layer thicknesses, choroidal thicknesses and macular thicknesses of groups were similar (p>0.05). In group 2 as DSTCUT increased, TBUT (r=-0.368, p=0.034) decreased, OSDI score (r=0.384, p=0.028) increased and more myopic SER (r=0.340, p=0.045) occurred. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study in children to comprehensively investigate the effects of STC overuse during a pandemic on ocular surface, anterior and posterior segment structures together. We found that STC overuse during the pandemic might increase the tendency to dry-eye and myopia, and might cause axial elongation. We also determined that at 1-year follow-up, STC overuse had no effect on CCT, keratometry, ACD, LT, and posterior segment parameters.
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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the views of social workers concerning theoretical and practical courses covering their professional responsibilities, focussing on sustainable development and the natural environment. It also investigates the impact on their attitudes towards sustainable development referencing their adoption of ecocentric or anthropocentric attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a structural equation model to answer six research questions, while the descriptive statistics answered one of the research questions through an online survey conducted with 315 social workers. Findings: This study demonstrated the need to consider attitudes to sustainable development focussing on the ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes, as well as the current COVID-19 global pandemic. Originality/value: This study is the first initiative to examine attitudes towards sustainable development and the natural environment from a social work perspective focussed on the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it is the first to emphasise the responsibilities of social workers in relation to micro, meso and macro level interventions during and after the global pandemic. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Student engagement has become a challenge for K-12 students and teachers in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explored the factors underlying student engagement and the strategies teachers developed to engage students. Thematically analyzed interview data coming from 22 teachers and 20 students of public high schools revealed teachers’ and students’ similar perceptions of the factors affecting student engagement. The four themes identified were instructional and student related factors along with those related to the learning environment and policies. The teacher strategies for the facilitation of student engagement were instructional, managerial, and affective. Teachers also discussed which of these strategies were helpful in fostering student engagement. © 2021 ISTE.
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Infectious diseases have been lately considered as one of the most important global risks, which negatively impact not only the health but also the socioeconomic conditions of countries. Globalization influences the spread of infectious diseases as a result of increased travelling and interaction in humans. Thus, it is highly important to prevent and diagnose new infectious diseases by using accurate and quick diagnostic methods. Bio-detection dogs have a great potential to accurately diagnose infectious disease as they have a great ability to sense disease-specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) originate from infectious agents and/or pathophysiological processes in the human body. The use of these dogs to detect infectious diseases has come to focus in particular after the recent global health crisis due to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. This review discusses the potential use of bio-detection dogs in the prevention and diagnosing of infectious diseases. Moreover, factors affecting the scent of the disease, e.g. VOCs, are tried to be highlighted. © 2021, Chartered Inst. of Building Services Engineers. All rights reserved.