Mena (mammalian Ena) is an actin regulatory protein involved in cell motility and adhesion. Based on its potential role in malignant transformation revealed in other organs, we analyzed the Mena expression in normal salivary glands (SG) and salivary tumors. Mena expression was determined in normal SG (n=10) and also benign (n=20) and malignant (n=35) lesions of SG. For the immunohistochemical s...

BACKGROUND The epidemiology of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is not well characterized despite increasing recognition of its expanding infection and disease burden in recent years. METHODOLOGY / PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Following Cochrane Collaboration guidelines and reporting our findings following PRISMA guidelines, we systematically reviewed records describ...

Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are regarded as primary examples of countries that have derived great benefits from increasing integration with the international economy, without surrendering national autonomy in the economic or cultural spheres, by pursuing decidedly nonneutral policies with respect to the promotion of specific sectors and activities. This working paper addresses a series of qu...

This paper aims to identify key challenges facing Iran and South Korea in their bilateral trade and investment relations. In particular, it is concerned with the policy implications which can be useful for policy makers and business people of both countries. For this purpose, we review and analyze the recent developments of the Iranian economy and bilateral trade and investment relations betwee...

Corruption and the Shadow Economy: An Empirical Analysis This paper analyzes the influence of the shadow economy on corruption and vice versa. We hypothesize that corruption and shadow economy are substitutes in high income countries while they are complements in low income countries. The hypotheses are tested for a crosssection of 120 countries and a panel of 70 countries for the period 1994-2...

abstract nowadays information plays an important role in the development process of societies so that the usage of related technologies such as ict can speed up this process by preparing cheap and effective instruments and changing working and living styles. the aim of this paper is to investigate the main determinants of information and communication technology (ict) adoption in 18 selected as...

during recent years, a debate has been taking place on the relationship between economic growth and trade policies. the present article explores the impact of trade liberalization on economic growth in islamic countries. we chose a sample of 26 islamic countries and using the gmm method, estimated the correlation between trade liberalization and economic growth for the period 1990-2003. the emp...

Given the expected advantages for individuals and societies, financial literacy is high on policy agenda in many countries. This paper reports results from a unique survey conducted sample of 13–16-year-old students five European countries, aimed at measuring comparing their level skills. The indicate significant differences across countries that are interpreted light countries’ educational pol...

We investigate the effects of low oil prices and heightened geopolitical risks on economic growth investment in Middle East North Africa (MENA) countries. find that negative shocks to positive risk have adverse GDP investment. Moreover, we impact MENA countries is muted when are and/or level high. These findings cast doubts prospects mega-project transformation plans as envisioned 2030 visions ...

This paper characterizes the integration patterns of international currency unions (such as the CFA Franc zone). We empirically explore different features of currency unions, and compare them to countries with sovereign monies by examining the criteria for Mundell’s concept of an optimum currency area. We find that members of currency unions are more integrated than countries with their own cur...