Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Elevated Levels of Circulating Interleukin-18 in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Individuals: Role of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells and Implications for AIDS Pathogenesis

ABSTRACT Originally identified as the gamma interferon-inducing factor, interleukin-18 (IL-18) was rediscovered as a proinflammatory cytokine related to the IL-1 family of cytokines that plays an important role in both innate and adaptive immune responses against viruses and intracellular pathogens. Despite its importance in inducing and regulating immune responses, relatively little is known about its production in HIV infection. We report here significantly (P < 0.05) elevated levels of this cytokine in the sera of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected/AIDS patients compared to those of HIV-seronegative healthy persons. Surprisingly, the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from HIV-infected/AIDS patients were compromised in the ability to upregulate IL-18 gene expression and produce this cytokine with and without lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. A significant positive correlation (P < 0.05) existed between the concentration of IL-18 in serum and its production from PBMC of HIV-seronegative healthy individuals but not those of HIV-infected/AIDS patients. Furthermore, the patients' PBMC expressed relatively reduced levels of activated caspase-1 constitutively as well as in response to LPS stimulation. Our data suggest the involvement of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) in suppressing IL-18 production from the patients' PBMC for the following reasons. (i) In in vitro studies it suppressed the production of IL-18 from PBMC. (ii) Its levels were significantly higher in the plasma of patients compared to that of control subjects. (iii) A significant negative correlation existed between the concentrations of TGF-β in plasma and of IL-18 in serum of the patients. The elevated levels of IL-18 in the serum of HIV-infected individuals may contribute to AIDS pathogenesis, whereas its compromised production from their PBMC in response to stimuli may reduce their innate defense to opportunistic intracellular pathogens.
Wisdom and counselling: A note on advising people with HIV/AIDS in Ghana

This article raises the question of whether the practice of HIV/AIDS counselling in Ghana can be linked to the wisdom that older people are said to have and use when they give advice to younger family members. Older people believe they have wisdom and life experience that young people should listen to; counsellors hold an opposite view about their work, insisting that it is they who listen to people with HIV/AIDS to help them make their own decisions. In actual practice, however, HIV/AIDS counsellors predominantly give information and advice, for at least three reasons. Firstly, clients urgently need a substantial amount of medical information about the causes and prevention of HIV in order to assess their situation and make decisions. Secondly, the traditional hierarchy between nurse and patient is difficult to reverse when the two meet during counselling. Thirdly, encouraging the client not to lose hope often takes the form of a pep-talk, which leaves little room for listening by the counsellor. This paper pleads for peer counselling, as a format that combines a relative equality between counselling partners with the authoritative knowledge of the counsellor. This article is based on anthropological fieldwork among older people in a rural community and counsellors in a hospital in the Kwahu region of southern Ghana.
Adoption of the Marketing Concept by UK Building Socities

This article identifies the different approaches to marketingpreva- lent among UK building societies. Based on the view of marketing either as a function incorporating a number of related activities or as a guiding philosophy for the whole organisation, building societies are divided into four discrete groups. Many differences between the groups are evident in respect of attitudes towards, organisation for and implementation of marketing. Based on these differences, a novel evolutionary pattern of marketing develop- ment within UK building societies is suggested.
Impaired cortico-limbic functional connectivity in schizophrenia patients during emotion processing

Abstract Functional dysconnection is increasingly recognized as a core pathological feature in schizophrenia. Aberrant interactions between regions of the cortico-limbic circuit may underpin the abnormal emotional processing associated with this illness. We used a functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm designed to dissociate the various components of the cortico-limbic circuit (i.e. a ventral automatic circuit that is intertwined with a dorsal cognitive circuit), to explore bottom-up appraisal as well as top-down control during emotion processing. In schizophrenia patients compared with healthy controls, bottom-up processes were associated with reduced interaction between the amygdala and both the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Contrariwise, top-down control processes led to stronger connectivity between the ventral affective and the dorsal cognitive circuits, i.e. heightened interactions between the ventral ACC and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as well as between dorsal and ventral ACC. These findings offer a comprehensive view of the cortico-limbic dysfunction in schizophrenia. They confirm previous results of impaired propagation of information between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex and suggest a defective functional segregation in the dorsal cognitive part of the cortico-limbic circuit.
Why Smaller Councils Make Sense

This article presents a case for smaller local governments based on notions of economic efficiency and community identity service responsiveness and political accountability. The arguments of sceptics (or those favouring greater council amalgamations) are challenged and refuted. Further elaboration of the case can be found in my recent book Secession: A Manifesto for an Independent Balmain Local Council (2001).
Explanatory Style and Academic Performance among College Students Beginning a Major Course of Study

Explanatory style, a cognitive variable, reflects how people typically explain the causes of bad events involving themselves. Explanatory style emerged from the attributional reformulation of the learned helplessness and depression model as a way of explaining individual differences in response to uncontrollability. A central prediction of the reformulation is that people with habitual explanatory tendencies differ, and individuals with a pessimistic explanatory style will be more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms following bad events than individuals with an optimistic explanatory style. 116 upper-level undergraduates beginning a degree program at this university completed the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Scores were correlated with students' cumulative grade point averages and their total points earned in Consumer Behavior, the first course required in the Marketing major. Students with pessimistic explanatory style scores outperformed colleagues with optimistic explanatory style scores. Implications of these findings and possible explanations for why explanatory style did not correlate in the theoretically predicted way with academic achievement are considered.
The Predictive Ability of Dividend and Earnings Yields for Long‐Term Stock Returns

We use empirical models to examine the predictive ability of dividend and earnings yields for long-term stock returns. Results show that dividend and earnings yields share a similar predictive power for future stock returns and growth. We find that the predictive power of dividend yields increases with the return horizon, but that yields forecast future returns and growth over a much longer horizon. Finally, dividend and earnings yields exhibit high autocorrelation and strong contemporaneous relations. Copyright 2000 by MIT Press.
Minocycline protects basal forebrain cholinergic neurons from mu p75‐saporin immunotoxic lesioning

Two prominent characteristics of Alzheimer's disease are basal forebrain cholinergic degeneration and neuroinflammation characterized by glial activation and the release of pro‐inflammatory cytokines. Mu p75‐ saporin (SAP) is a novel immunotoxin that mimics the selective loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and induces cognitive impairment in mice. We report that cholinergic cell loss in the medial septal nucleus and ventral diagonal band after i.c. v. injection of mu p75‐SAP is accompanied by simultaneous activation of microglia and astrocytes in the basal forebrain region as well as significant memory loss. Consistent with a role of glial cells in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease, minocycline, a second‐generation tetracycline with known anti‐inflammatory and neuroprotective properties, attenuated mu p75‐SAP‐induced cholinergic cell loss, glial activation and transcription of downstream pro‐inflammatory mediators. In addition to neuroprotection, minocycline treatment mitigated the cognitive impairment that appears to be a functional consequence of mu p75‐SAP lesioning. The current study demonstrates that glial‐related inflammation plays a significant role in the selective neurotoxicity of mu p75‐SAP, and suggests that minocycline may provide a viable therapeutic option for degenerating cholinergic systems.
Differences in outsourcing strategies between firms in emerging and in developed markets

Purpose – The vast majority of literature relating to operations management originates from studies in developed markets. Emerging markets are increasingly important in global business. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to analyze differences in outsourcing strategies between manufacturing firms from emerging markets and from developed markets.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on statistical analyses of a large data set of manufacturing firms obtained from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS). Findings – The findings suggest that companies that outsource internationally focus on achieving cost benefits, while companies that outsource domestically focus on achieving capacity flexibility. In addition, the reasons to outsource were found to be independent of the location of firms in both emerging and developed markets. However, within the group of firms from emerging markets, strategies seem to differ according to whether firms are domestically owned or are subsi.
The Perfect Burrow, but for What? Identifying Local Habitat Conditions Promoting the Presence of the Host and Vector Species in the Kazakh Plague System

Introduction The wildlife plague system in the Pre-Balkhash desert of Kazakhstan has been a subject of study for many years. Much progress has been made in generating a method of predicting outbreaks of the disease (infection by the gram negative bacterium Yersinia pestis) but existing methods are not yet accurate enough to inform public health planning. The present study aimed to identify characteristics of individual mammalian host (Rhombomys opimus) burrows related to and potentially predictive of the presence of R.opimus and the dominant flea vectors (Xenopsylla spp.). Methods Over four seasons, burrow characteristics, their current occupancy status, and flea and tick burden of the occupants were recorded in the field. A second data set was generated of long term occupancy trends by recording the occupancy status of specific burrows over multiple occasions. Generalised linear mixed models were constructed to identify potential burrow properties predictive of either occupancy or flea burden. Results At the burrow level, it was identified that a burrow being occupied by Rhombomys, and remaining occupied, were both related to the characteristics of the sediment in which the burrow was constructed. The flea burden of Rhombomys in a burrow was found to be related to the tick burden. Further larger scale properties were also identified as being related to both Rhombomys and flea presence, including latitudinal position and the season. Conclusions Therefore, in advancing our current predictions of plague in Kazakhstan, we must consider the landscape at this local level to increase our accuracy in predicting the dynamics of gerbil and flea populations. Furthermore this demonstrates that in other zoonotic systems, it may be useful to consider the distribution and location of suitable habitat for both host and vector species at this fine scale to accurately predict future epizootics.
Population Research, Its Relevance and Topicality

Population Research, Its Relevance and Topicality The first part of the paper divides the field of population research into several categories that the author uses in the further discussion. In addition to identifying problems and processes occurring within the distinguished categories, and to assessing the status of demographic situation, population research should take into account practical forecasting. The other part of the paper presents a topical and most needed programme of research applicable to population geography.
Electrochemical Model Based Observer Design for a Lithium-Ion Battery

Batteries are the key technology for enabling further mobile electrification and energy storage. Accurate prediction of the state of the battery is needed not only for safety reasons, but also for better utilization of the battery. In this work we present a state estimation strategy for a detailed electrochemical model of a lithium-ion battery. The benefit of using a detailed model is the additional information obtained about the battery, such as accurate estimates of the internal temperature, the state of charge within the individual electrodes, overpotential, concentration and current distribution across the electrodes, which can be utilized for safety and optimal operation. Based on physical insight, we propose an output error injection observer based on a reduced set of partial differential-algebraic equations. This reduced model has a less complex structure, while it still captures the main dynamics. The observer is extensively studied in simulations and validated in experiments for actual electric-vehicle drive cycles. Experimental results show the observer to be robust with respect to unmodeled dynamics as well as to noisy and biased voltage and current measurements. The available state estimates can be used for monitoring purposes or incorporated into a model based controller to improve the performance of the battery while guaranteeing safe operation.
Response endpoints and failure-free survival after initial treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease

We evaluated short-term response endpoints for acute graft-versus-host disease treatment trials. We postulated that response endpoints should correlate with reduced symptom burden and decreased subsequent treatment failure, defined as non-relapse mortality, recurrent malignancy, or additional systemic treatment. The cohort included 303 consecutive patients who received initial systemic steroid treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease. Response was evaluated at day 28 after initial treatment, which in all cases preceded the onset of chronic graft-versus-host disease. At day 28, 36% of patients had a complete response, 26% had a very good partial response, 10% had another degree of partial response (other partial response) and 28% had no response. As expected, the symptom burden was lower in patients with very good partial response compared to those with other partial response. The frequencies of subsequent treatment failure were similar in patients with complete and very good partial responses, but lower than in patients with other partial response or no response at day 28. The frequency of second-line treatment was lower in patients with very good partial response than in those with other partial response. Risk factors associated with a lower probability of complete or very good partial response at day 28 were unrelated or human leukocyte antigen-mismatched related donor grafts and liver or gastrointestinal involvement at onset of initial treatment. Taken together, these results suggest that endpoints in acute graft-versus-host disease treatment trials should distinguish between very good partial response and other partial response. Our results support the use of complete or very good partial response at day 28 as an appropriate short-term primary endpoint.
Research Note: The Tourism-Led Growth Hypothesis for Uruguay

This paper analyses the effects of tourism on the long-run economic growth of Uruguay. Using quarterly data from 1987.I to 2006.IV, the study uses cointegration analysis and shows the existence of a cointegrated vector among Uruguayan real per capita GDP, Argentinean tourism expenditure (the principal source of tourism in Uruguay) and real exchange rate between Uruguay and Argentina. It also shows that there is a positive causality relationship between Argentinean tourism expenditure and real per capita GDP of Uruguay. Finally, the authors compare this study with similar papers investigating the tourism-led growth hypothesis.
Parasites of larval black flies ( Diptera : Simuliidae ) in Thailand

Parasites of larval black flies are reported for the first time from Thailand, including mermithid nematodes (Mermithidae), microsporidian fungi (Zygomycota), and the fungus Coelomycidium simulii Debaisieux (Blastocladiomycetes). The following nine species of black flies were infected with one or more parasites: Simulium asakoae, S. chamlongi, S. chiangmaiense, S. fenestratum, S. feuerborni, S. nakhonense, S. nodosum, S. quinquestriatum, and S. tani. The prevalence of patent infections per host species per season was 0.1–7.1% for mermithids, 0.1–6.0% for microsporidia, and 0.1–3.0% for C. simulii.
Glucose-sucrose-potassium tellurite-bacitracin agar, an alternative to mitis salivarius-bacitracin agar for enumeration of Streptococcus mutans

An agar medium for selective recovery and enumeration of Streptococcus mutans was developed as an alternative to mitis salivarius-bacitracin (MSB) agar. Combinations of dyes, antibiotics, and tellurite were added to a nonselective medium which, because of its sucrose content, allowed easy recognition of S. mutans colonies. Candle jar incubation for 2 days, by comparison with anaerobic incubation, reduced background flora but did not diminish S. mutans recoveries from clinical samples. Quantitative comparisons were made of the simultaneous recoveries of a number of authentic S. mutans serotype representatives and fresh clinical isolates, using various glucose-sucrose-potassium tellurite-bacitracin (GSTB) formulations and mitis salivarius, MSB, and blood agars. Mitis salivarius counts were not detectably different from blood counts, but counts on MSB were distinctly lower. A formulation of the new medium containing 5% glucose 5% sucrose, 0.001% potassium tellurite, 0.3 U of bacitracin per ml (hence GSTB), and 2% agar gave recoveries nearly equal to those on mitis salivarius agar and much greater than those on MSB. The medium yielded readily recognized S. mutans colonies and facilitated detection of intracellular polysaccharide formers upon flooding with I2 reagent. Freshly isolated serotype c, E, and f colonies could often be distinguished from serotype d and g colonies, a distinction made reliable by testing for intracellular polysaccharide. A study of 300 salivary samples revealed GSTB to give significantly higher recoveries than MSB. About 72% of all samples were substantially underestimated for S. mutans with MSB, and 6.7% of samples were falsely negative for S. mutans with MSB. Recovery of background flora on GSTB was as low or lower than on MSB, and both types of agar could be stored for at least 9 weeks without notable change of selectivity. Thus, GSTB agar appears to be simple and reliable to use and requires no anaerobic incubation. Caution is voiced about interpretation of data previously reported which evaluated S. mutans on MSB agar.
Assessing residential satisfaction among low income households in multi-habited dwellings in selected low income communities in Accra

Multi-habitation is the predominant housing strategy adopted by low income households to address their housing needs in urban areas in Ghana. The recent housing policy draft in Ghana recommends multi-habitation as an urban low income housing strategy. However, a couple of researches indicate that households living in multi-habited houses are faced with a myriad of challenges. One such challenge is conflict over inadequate shared facilities. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, this paper examines multi-habited households’ residential satisfaction with a holistic approach where the characteristics of the dwelling unit, the social networks and neighbourhood facilities are all considered in accessing household satisfaction. Five low income communities in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area were studied. The research found out that the dwelling characteristics have a negative influence on the residential satisfaction of the respondents. Households derived the most satisfaction from community support but were moderately satisfied with their neighbourhood characteristics. The significance of this finding on multi-habited housing development and planning in Ghana reflects in the design, location and maintenance of such dwellings.
The Effects of Military Spending on Economic Activity: Evidence from State Procurement Spending

The authors use state data from the period 1963-94 to estimate the response of employment growth to military procurement spending. The state-year panel provides greater variation in both variables than aggregate data. There are two main findings. First, military procurement spending does explain a statistically significant degree of the variation in employment growth across states, even in the presence of fixed effects for time and state and other controls. Second, the authors find evidence in support of a nonlinear relationship between procurement spending and employment growth. In particular, large adverse state procurement shocks have proportionately larger effects on state employment growth rates. Copyright 1997 by Ohio State University Press.
Are new TiNbZr alloys potential substitutes of the Ti6Al4V alloy for dental applications? An electrochemical corrosion study

The main aim of this work was to assess the electrochemical behavior of new Ti35Nb5Zr and Ti35Nb10Zr alloys in artificial saliva at 37 °C to verify if they are indicated to be used as biomaterials in dentistry as alternatives to Ti6Al4V alloys in terms of corrosion protection efficiency of the material. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) experiments were carried out for different periods of time (0.5–216 h) in a three-electrode cell, where the working electrode (Ti alloys) was exposed to artificial saliva at 37 °C. The near-surface region of the alloys was investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). All alloys exhibited an increase in corrosion potential with the immersion time, indicating the growth and stabilization of the passive film. Ti35Nb5Zr and Ti6Al4V alloys had their EIS results interpreted by a double-layer circuit, while the Ti35Nb10Zr alloy was modeled by a one-layer circuit. In general, the new TiNbZr alloys showed similar behavior to that observed for the Ti6Al4V. XPS results suggest, in the case of the TiNbZr alloys, the presence of a thicker passive layer containing a lower fraction of TiO2 phase than that of Ti6Al4V. After long-term immersion, all alloys develop a calcium phosphate phase on the surface. The new TiNbZr alloys appear as potential candidates to be used as a substitute to Ti6Al4V in the manufacturing of dental implant-abutment sets.