Strategies of reducing input sample volume for extracting circulating cell-free nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA in plasma

Background: Circulating cell-free (ccf) DNA in blood has been suggested as a potential biomarker in many conditions regarding early diagnosis and prognosis. However, misdiagnosis can result due to the limited DNA resources in Biobank's plasma samples or insufficient DNA targets from a predominant DNA background in genetic tests. This study explored several strategies for an efficient DNA extraction to increase DNA amount from limited plasma input. Methods: Ccf plasma DNA was extracted with three different methods, a phenol-chloroform-isoamylalcohol (PCI) method, a High Pure PCR Template Preparation Kit method and a method used for single cell PCR in this group. Subsequently, the total DNA was measured by Nanodrop and the genome equivalents (GE) of the GAPDH housekeeping gene and MTATP 8 gene were measured using a multiplex real-time quantitative PCR for the quantitative assessment of nDNA and mtDNA. Results: Instead of 400-800 μL (routine input in the laboratory), 50 μLof plasma input enabled the extraction of ccf DNA sufficient for quantitative analysis. Using the PCI method and the kit method, both nDNA and mtDNA could be successfully detected in plasma samples, but nDNA extracted using protocol for single cell PCR was not detectable in 25% of plasma samples. In comparison to the other two methods, the PCI method showed lower DNA purity, but higher concentrations and more GE of nDNA and mtDNA. Conclusions: The PCI method was more efficient than the other two methods in the extraction of ccf DNA in plasma. Limited plasma is available for ccf DNA analysi

MicroRNA-7 inhibits epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of breast cancer cells via targeting FAK expression

10.1371/journal.pone.0041523PLoS ONE78

Green investments and firm performance. ESRI Working Paper 672 July 2020.

This paper examines the impact of firms’ green investments on a range of performance outcomes including the growth of output, employment, productivity, export intensity, and energy intensity. The analysis uses firm-level data from Ireland’s industry sector over the period 2008-2016. To identify causal effects, a difference-in-difference propensity score matching is implemented. In addition to average effects across all firms, we identify and quantify heterogenous effects for different groups of firms. Our results indicate that in the medium-term green investments have positive and statistically significant effects on firms’ performance. Taking into account firm heterogeneity, we find that the effects are stronger for firms which are larger, foreign-owned, more productive, and in low-tech industries. Taken together, this evidence suggests that environmental quality and firm performance go together

Product line extensions under the threat of entry: evidence from the UK pharmaceuticals market. ESRI Working Paper 678 September 2020.

Do firms increase product lines to deter entry and, if so, when is such a strategy successful? We use data from UK pharmaceuticals to examine how incumbents respond to change in the threat of entry. In line with the entry deterrence motive, originators’ product launch rate is higher when the risk of entry is moderate, but becomes lower when entry is very likely, and the effect is most pronounced in medium-size markets. We further find that in medium-size markets, originators can deny entry via proliferation if they fill the product space evenly across patients so that each variant has a significant market share of the originators drugs. This does not work in large markets, but here entry is deterred when originators engage in product hopping, i.e., shift most of the patients to newer variants of the drug that may still be protected by intellectual property

Containing the COVID-19 Pandemic: What Determined the Speed of Government Interventions? ESRI Working Paper 680 November 2020.

This paper examines the speed with which governments introduced lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. We use data on daily confirmed COVID-19 cases and related deaths combined with information on containment measures available for 124 countries as well as a range of annual country-specific data. In terms of methodology, we estimate time-to-event models to analyse the speed of starting government containment measures and the speed with which such measures reached their highest level from the first confirmed COVID-19 case and the first COVID-19 related death. Our results indicate that governments in countries with a weaker health system capacity and in countries with a larger share of elderly populations were more likely to start lockdown measures faster. Smaller and more open economies were more likely to move faster to the highest level of containment measures

Factors driving firms’ green investments. ESRI Research Bulletin June 2021.

Boosting firms’ investments in environmental protection (green investments) could speed up the transition to a climate-neutral economy and more sustainable long-term economic growth. Understanding what determines firms’ decisions to invest in assets such as equipment for pollution control and cleaner technologies is important for the design of policy measures aimed at improving environmental quality and resource efficiency by incentivising firms’ engagement in green investments. Existing evidence on what factors determine firms’ decisions to invest in environmental protection is still limited. To help address this evidence gap, we examined a range of factors underlying firms’ investments in equipment for pollution control and in equipment linked to cleaner technologies in Ireland’s industry sector. The factors included firm characteristics and external factors such as environmental regulations, competition and learning effects from other firms with green investments in the same industry and the same region. Given the variation of environmental regulations across countries, we further investigated whether the country of origin of foreign investors played a role in firms’ decisions to invest in environmental protection

What drives firms’ decisions to spend on environmental protection? ESRI Working Paper 670 June 2020.

This paper examines factors underlying firms’ capital and current expenditures on environmental protection. Using microdata from Ireland’s industry sector over the period 2008-2016, we analyse a range of such factors including firm characteristics, environmental regulations, competition and spillover effects from firms with investment and spending on environmental protection within the same industry or within the same region. Our results indicate that larger firms, importers, and firms which are part of an enterprise group are more likely to invest in equipment for pollution control and in equipment linked to cleaner technologies. Industry competition incentivises firms to invest in equipment for cleaner technologies. Further, our results indicate that the propensity of firms to invest in equipment for pollution control and to spend on environmental protection are higher for more energy-intensive firms. Finally, our results uncover significant positive spillover effects from firms with capital expenditures as well as from firms with current expenditures on environmental protection in the same industry or the same region on firms’ decisions to invest and spend on environmental protection