Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Follicular Lymphoma Tregs Have a Distinct Transcription Profile Impacting Their Migration and Retention in the Malignant Lymph Node

We have previously shown that regulatory T cells (Tregs) infiltrating follicular lymphoma lymph nodes are quantitatively and qualitatively different than those infiltrating normal and reactive nodes. To gain insight into how such Treg populations differ, we performed RNA sequence (RNAseq) analyses on flow sorted Tregs from all three sources. We identify several molecules that could contribute to the observed increased suppressive capacity of follicular lymphoma nodal tregs, including upregulation of CTLA-4, IL-10, and GITR, all confirmed by protein expression. In addition, we identify, and confirm functionally, a novel mechanism by which Tregs target to and accumulate within a human tumor microenvironment, through the down regulation of S1PR1, SELL (L-selectin) and CCR7, potentially resulting in greater lymph node retention. In addition we identify and confirm functionally the upregulation of the chemokine receptor CXCR5 as well as the secretion of the chemokines CXCL13 and IL-16 demonstrating the unique ability of the follicular derived Tregs to localize and accumulate within not only the malignant lymph node, but also localize and accumulate within the malignant B cell follicle itself. Such findings offer significant new insights into how follicular lymphoma nodal Tregs may contribute to the biology of follicular lymphoma and identify several novel therapeutic targets.
Does hybridization between divergent progenitors drive whole‐genome duplication?

Hybridization and whole‐genome duplication are both potential mechanisms of rapid speciation which sometimes act in concert. Recent surveys, showing that homoploid hybrid species tend to be derived from parents that are less evolutionarily divergent than parents of polyploid hybrid species (allopolyploids), have been interpreted as supporting a hypothesis that high divergence between hybridizing species drives whole‐genome duplication. Here, we argue that such conclusions stem from problems in sampling (especially the omission of autopolyploids) and null model selection, and underestimate the importance of selection. The data simply demonstrate that hybridization between divergent parents has a higher probability of successfully producing a species if followed by polyploidization.
Employee relations in Algeria: a historical appraisal

Purpose – The paper seeks to examine the evolution of, and assesses current trajectories of change in, the Algerian employee relations system.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews a range of literature on employee relations in Algeria and draws on the authors' research over the years in the field, including recent interviews with unions' representatives.Findings – The paper provides evidence to suggest that the Algerian system of employee relations is a product of interactions and intersections between historical circumstances and different institutional arrangements and configurations to enable the state to hold together its power and control over unions. The paper shows how the preferential treatment of the UGTA by the government created an uneven playing field favouring the UGTA over independent unions.Research limitations/implications – A major limitation of the paper is lack of strong empirical evidence.Practical implications – The paper suggests that the single most important factor determ.
The endogenous relationship between audit-report type and business termination: evidence on private firms in a non-litigious environment

Abstract This study provides evidence on the relationship between audit-report type and subsequent business termination for private companies in a non-litigious environment. The results show that an endogenous relationship exists between bankruptcy and audit-report type, and between voluntary liquidation and audit-report type. A non-clean opinion is typically issued when firms face financial difficulties, which in turn become more severe after the receipt of a non-clean audit opinion. We find evidence that, even without a litigation deterrent in Belgium, financial performance has a similar impact on audit-report type as in litigious environments. We find that the self-fulfilling prophecy hypothesis holds for bankruptcy but not for voluntary liquidation. Our study also provides some evidence on audit reporting differences between Big 6 and non-Big 6 auditors in the Belgian audit market. When financial difficulties are obvious, as is the case when a company is about to go bankrupt, both Big 6 and non- Big 6 auditors are as competent and/or independent to assess and report going-concern problems. However, when financial difficulties are less apparent, as is the case for firms that voluntarily decide to liquidate, our results indicate that Big 6 auditors are more likely to issue a non-clean audit opinion than non-Big 6 auditors.
EVALUATION OF ROOT ANATOMY AND MORPHOLOGY OF MANDIBULAR PREMOLARS WITH CBCT IN IRANIAN POPULATION

There are different methods for investigating anatomy and morphology of root canal. One useful clinical method is applying cone beam computed tomography which lessens the limitations of two dimensional radiography images and it has fewer rays with higher resolution. Considering the importance of anatomy and morphology of canal in cleaning and formation of root canal system, based on incompatible results from various studies, and due to insufficient researches in terms of planning and research methodology, this study aimed to investigate root anatomyand mandibular first and second canal by CBCT in Iranian population during 2014-2015. This study was performed cross-sectional. Studied population included mandibular premolarteeth that were healthy and recognizable crown with healthy and evolved apex without central or internal desorption and root crack and without restoration from CBCT images. 300 CBCT images were studied statistically. What we examined was teeth of mandibular first and secondpremolarin terms of gender, root length, root number, numbers of each root canals, canal types, presence of isthmus, intervalscanal orifice , and finally anatomy symmetry. Statistical analysis was conducted by SPSS software. 95% of mandibular first premolar teeth in left side were single rooted and 5% were double rooted, 76/5% were single canal and 23/5% was double canal. In right side, 96/3% were single rooted and 2/7% were double rooted, 78% single canal and 21/9% were dc. 96/6% of second premolar teeth in left side were single rooted and 4% were double rooted, 85/5% were single rooted and 14/5% were double in right side 99/3% were single rooted and 0/7% were double rooted and 92/5% were single canal and 7/5% were double canal which all indicated that there was no significant difference between first and second premolars. Based on results it was illustrated that first and second premolar teeth were almost single rooted (95%, 99/6%) with one canal (type I) and secondlytype V had the most prevalence rate. Second premolars in nearly all cases were single rooted and there was no difference in tooth type. Direction of root curvature was direct in most cases (54%) and then distal direction was in second priority (37%) and there was no difference in tooth type.
Measuring Public Preferences for the Environmental Amenities Provided by Farmland

As farmland amenities have become relatively more scarce than food and fibre in developed countries, public concern has shifted away from increasing agricultural production, towards protecting rural environmental quality. Choosing appropriate policies requires accurate information describing public preferences for different amenities. This paper uses qualitative information provided by focus groups and survey data from a sample of Rhode Island (USA) residents, to identify and compare socially valued environmental amenities associated with farmland and open space. Public preferences for preserving farmland compare favourably with preferences for preserving other types of open space. Lands that include endangered species habitats and important groundwater resources are preferred. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.
Beyond Drinking: The Role of Wine in the Life of the UK Consumer

Since the development of wine sales via supermarkets in the UK in the 1970s wine consumption has more than doubled so now the UK is the largest wine import market (by value) in the world. Wine is now consumed by approximately 61% of the UK adult population on a regular basis. For many social wine consumption has become part of their lifestyle. Given the international importance of the UK wine market, plus the increasing incorporation of wine into regular consumption behaviour, it is remarkable how few academic studies have been undertaken into the consumption behaviour of moderate, social UK wine consumers. This paper aims to start developing that knowledge, thus adding to our understanding of consumer behaviour in general. The results show that consumers use wine in very sophisticated ways via purchasing, gifting and consumption. The findings also show that social interaction with wine varies significantly, dependant upon occasion and environment. Behaviour also varies if the purchase, as gift and/or for consumption, is perceived as a private or public activity. This paper places UK wine consumer behaviour within a social context, and is able to show that all consumers display a range of behaviours in relation to wine which are situation and occasion dependant.
Social Spending in IMF-supported Programs

This paper analyzes the impact of IMF-supported programs on health and education spending in a large time-series cross-section sample of countries. Using an ARIMA model to model time dynamics and instrumental variables to correct for the well-known endogeneity of IMF-supported programs, the paper finds, contrary to the conventional wisdom, that health and education do not decline in the presence of an IMF-supported program. However, this does not necessarily mean that the poor are protected from the costs of economic adjustment.
Dynamics of Open Economy Business Cycle Models: Understanding the Role of the Discount Factor

This paper examines the dynamic implications of different preference formulations in open economy business cycle models with incomplete asset markets. In particular, we study two preference formulations: a time separable preference formulation with a fixed discount factor, and a time non-separable preference structure with an endogenous discount factor. We analyze the moment implications of two versions of an otherwise identical open economy model -- one with a fixed discount factor and the other with an endogenous discount factor -- and study impulse responses to productivity and world real interest rate shocks. Our results suggest that business cycle implications of the two models are quite similar under conventional parameter values. We also find the approximation errors associated with the solutions of these two models are of the same magnitude.
Are big four audits in ASEAN countries of higher quality than non-big four audits?

Abstract We investigate whether reputation concerns provide sufficient incentive for Big Four auditors to provide higher quality audits in ASEAN countries where litigation exposure is low or nonexistent. We proxy audit quality based on the quality of reported earnings (earnings conservatism) to examine whether Big Four auditors provided higher quality audits (relative to non-Big Four auditors) during 1990–96. To neutralise the potential confounding effects of cross-border differences, we investigate the relative quality of Big Four vs. non-Big Four audits within each country separately so that each country serves as its own control. Our results suggest that although both Big Four and non-Big Four auditees report conservative earnings in all countries, only in the US do Big Four auditees report more conservative earnings than non-Big Four auditees. Thus, although the World Bank and UNCTAD (1999) did not express concerns about Big Four audit quality in emerging markets until 1999, the evidence suggests that the Big Four were not providing higher quality audits in ASEAN countries even prior to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Our findings are interesting in the context of the ongoing globalisation of capital markets in which cross-border investors in emerging markets, separated from corporate management not only geographically but often culturally and linguistically, are presumed to rely on a brand name Big Four audit to provide enhanced assurance on financial statements.
Cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic responses to apnea induced by atlanto-occipital intrathecal lidocaine injection in anesthetized horses.

OBJECTIVE To determine physiologic responses to apnea-induced severe hypoxemia in anesthetized horses. STUDY DESIGN Prospective experimental study. ANIMALS Six university-owned horses with a median (range) body weight of 500 (220-510) kg and aged 13.5 (0.8-24.0) years scheduled for euthanasia. METHODS Xylazine-midazolam-ketamine-anesthetized horses breathing room air spontaneously were instrumented with a facial artery catheter for pressure measurement and blood sampling, and were made apneic with atlanto-occipital intrathecal lidocaine (4 mg kg-1 ). Cardiopulmonary, biochemical and hematologic variables were recorded before (baseline) and every minute for 10 minutes after lidocaine injection. RESULTS PaO2 values were: baseline, 55 mmHg (7.3 kPa); 1 minute, 28 mmHg (3.8 kPa); 2 minutes, 18 mmHg (2.4 kPa); 3 minutes, 15 mmHg (2.0 kPa), and 4-10 minutes, (8-11 mmHg (1.1-1.5 kPa). PaCO2 values were: baseline, 50 mmHg (6.7 kPa); 1 minute, 61 mmHg (8.1 kPa), and 2-10 minutes, 64-66 mmHg (8.5-8.8 kPa). Base excess values at baseline, 1 minute and 2-10 minutes were 5.3 mmol L-1 , 6.5 mmol L-1 and 7.0-8.1 mmol L-1 , respectively. Pulse rates at baseline, 1 minute and 2-7 minutes were 36, 53 and 54-85 beats minute-1 , respectively. Asystole occurred at 8 minutes. Pulse pressures were 50 mmHg at baseline and 1 minute, and 39 mmHg, 31 mmHg, 22 mmHg, 17 mmHg and 1-9 mmHg at 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6-10 minutes, respectively. Lactate was 0.9 mmol L-1 at baseline, progressively increasing to 1.7-2.4 mmol L-1 at 7-10 minutes. Packed cell volume increased after 7 minutes of apnea. There were no other major changes. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Apnea immediately exacerbated hypoxemia and hypercapnia and rapidly caused hemodynamic instability. Apnea in hypoxemic anesthetized horses is associated with a serious risk for progress to cardiovascular collapse.
The New Saudi Educational Renaissance: In between the "Capacity to Aspire" and the "Capacity to Remember"

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia investments in higher education have increased exponentially in recent years, and the New Saudi Educational Renaissance is attracting the attention of international academia. The purpose of this study is to draw on Saudi sources, with the aim of allowing Saudi voices to introduce their strategies for the design of a Saudi Arabian way to knowledge society, which will be a product of the “capacity to aspire” and the “capacity to remember” (UNESCO, 2002) of the Saudi nation.
Hedge ratios in Greek stock index futures market

This paper examines hedging in Greek stock index futures market. The focus is on various techniques to estimate constant or time-varying hedge ratios. For both available stock index futures contracts of the Athens Derivatives Exchange (ADEX), a variety of econometric models are employed to derive and estimate underlying hedge ratios. Standard OLS regressions, simple and vector error correction models, as well as multivariate generalized autoregressive heteroscedasticity (M-GARCH) models are employed to estimate corresponding hedge ratios that can be employed in hedging (viewed as risk management). In both cases for Greek stock index futures, M-GARCH models (capturing time-variation) provide best hedging ratios, in line with similar findings in the literature. These models are strongly recommended to risk managers dealing with Greek stock index futures.
Testing the neoclassical theory of economic growth : a panel data approach

Recent empirical studies have examined the determinants of economic growth using country-average (cross-sectional) data. By contrast, this paper employs a technique for using a panel of cross-sectional and time series data for 98 countries over the 1960-85 period to determine the quantitative importance for economic growth of both country-specific and time-varying factors such as human capital, public investment, and outward-oriented trade policies. The empirical results support the view that these factors exert a positive and significant influence on growth. They also provide estimates of the speed at which the gap between the real per capita incomes of rich and poor countries is likely to be reduced over the longer term.
Up-regulation of the KLF2 Transcription Factor by Fluid Shear Stress Requires Nucleolin*

We have previously characterized the regulation of the KLF2 transcription factor gene by describing an induction complex that binds to and regulates its promoter. In the present study, by using DNA affinity chromatography and mass spectrometry, we have identified nucleolin as an additional protein that binds to a palindromic response region in the KLF2 promoter. The presence of nucleolin on the KLF2 promoter in macrophages was verified by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Interestingly, in mouse and human endothelial cell lines, electrophoretic mobility shift assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses indicated that nucleolin binds the KLF2 promoter only upon application of fluid shear stress. Pretreatment of the endothelial cells with LY294002, a specific inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), blocked the shear stress-induced binding of nucleolin to the promoter, demonstrating its PI3K-dependent regulation. Additionally, nucleolin exhibited dynamic flow-specific, PI3K-dependent alterations in size. Anti-nucleolin antibodies interacted with a 110-kDa form in static endothelial cells and with several catalytic forms that changed in abundance after the application of shear stress. Immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that fluid flow induced the interaction of nucleolin with the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3K. Finally, introduction of small interfering RNAs targeting the nucleolin genetic sequence selectively reduced nucleolin expression and was sufficient to block the induction of KLF2 by shear stress. These data support a general role for nucleolin in gene regulation and identify it as a novel factor involved in regulation of KLF2 expression.
Positive and negative social exchanges and cognitive aging in young-old adults: differential associations across family, friend, and spouse domains.

We examined how positive and negative social exchanges with friends, family, and spouses were related to cognitive aging in episodic and working memory, and perceptual speed. To do so, we used a large sample of cognitively intact young-old participants from the PATH Through Life Study (PATH; aged 60 to 64 years at baseline, n = 1,618) who were assessed on 3 occasions over 8 years. Additional replication analyses were conducted using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which provided data on episodic memory. The main analysis of PATH Through Life showed that positive exchanges with friends and family were associated with less decline in perceptual speed, with these associations attenuated by adjustment for physical functioning and depressive symptoms. Negative exchanges with spouses were associated with poorer working memory performance. Positive exchanges with friends were associated with better initial episodic memory in both PATH and HRS. More frequent negative exchanges with friends and family were associated with better episodic memory in the PATH sample. However, these findings were not replicated in HRS. Our findings provide indirect support for the role of social exchange quality in contributing to cognitive enrichment. However, the inconsistent pattern of results across cognitive and social exchange domains points to possibilities of reverse causality, and may also indicate that social exchange quality plays a less important role for cognitive enrichment than other psychosocial characteristics.
Democratic Citizenship, Social Rights and the "Reflexive Continuation" of the Welfare State

There is a "spectre" haunting progressives in the form of confusion over the future of welfare states. It is therefore not surprising, in the face of both structural crises and political assaults, that scholars in North America who once emphasized the "social control" aspects of welfare states have now adopted distinctly defensive postures toward them. Seeking to defend existing welfare programs against attack, they now emphasize their "emancipatory" character, apparently unmindful of their earlier objections to such programs. In Canada, we have witnessed the continuation in certain quarters on the Left of some remarkably statist postures. Assuming that governments should immunize citizens against all social and economic risks, some analysts have shown little regard for the negative dimensions of welfare state intervention.
Compared characteristics of 2000-2007 single vehicle rollover fatalities in three Australian states from the Australian National Coroners Information System (NCIS) database

A three-level analysis of 2000-2007 single vehicle rollover fatalities in three Australian states was carried out using NCIS data. Successive selection criteria were applied to the initial dataset to analyse: occupant fatalities in single passenger car crashes (1743 cases); occupant fatalities in single passenger car rollovers (475 cases); injuries to contained occupant fatalities in single passenger car rollovers (209 cases). Results showed strong disparities between New South Wales, Northern Territory and Victoria in terms of crash type distribution and containment of the occupant. Differences were also found in rollover initiation, speed at initiation, number of turns, and secondary impact. Overall, the strongest association of fatal neck/thoracic spine injuries with head injuries was found for the contained, belted occupant. This analysis of single vehicle rollover fatalities is consistent with previous findings. In Australia, strategies for rollover injury risk mitigation will specifically need to take into account a broad range of characteristics to be effective.
Impact of infrastructure on output, productivity and efficiency: Evidence from the Indian manufacturing industry

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical evaluation of the impact of infrastructure development on industry-level productivity, output and efficiency in India over the period 1994-2006. Design/methodology/approach - The first stage, estimated total factor productivity (TFP) and technical efficiency of eight important industries. In the next stage, the effects of infrastructure were estimated on TFP, output, labor productivity and technical efficiency. Fully modified ordinary least squares procedure was utilized to generate consistent estimates of the relevant panel variables in the cointegrated frameworks. Findings - The results of this study are mixed. On the one hand, TFP, output and technical efficiency appear to be positively and largely affected by infrastructure. On the other hand, the effect of infrastructure on the labor productivity is somewhat negligible. In addition, the effects of information and communication technology on the industrial performance are found to be very weak. Originality/value - This is the first study of its kind in the related literature which attempts to investigate the role of infrastructure in industrial performance, using alternative frameworks, namely, growth accounting and production function approach. The paper uses appropriate techniques to account for the potential endogeneity of regressors as well as for multicollinearity among infrastructure variables.