Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of mesenchymal stem cells as treatment for graft-versus-host disease: current knowledge and controversies.

In 2002, Bartholomew et al. reported the systemic administration of autologous or allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) increased the viability of allogeneic skin grafts in baboons [1]. MSCs certainly exerted a graft-supporting function and the observation of a reduction in T-cell proliferation in the animals suggested MSCs also induced immunotolerance. Bartholomew’s report, together with other evidence, indicate that MSCs have immunosuppressing activities with therapeutic potential in disorders such as graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) or autoimmune aplastic anemia, since immune reaction is in their pathogenesis. During the past decade, a number of clinical trials exploiting the immunomodulatory activity of MSCs led to different rates of success. In particular, the treatment of GvHD with MSCs showed encouraging results in the initial reports. Despite this, the number of ongoing trials on this cell therapy for GvHD to date registered at clinicaltrials.gov is rather small, compared with the number of active studies using MSCs for regenerative medicine.
Transcriptional Regulation of xyr1, Encoding the Main Regulator of the Xylanolytic and Cellulolytic Enzyme System in Hypocrea jecorina

ABSTRACT In Hypocrea jecorina, Xyr1 (xylanase regulator 1) is the main transcription activator of hydrolase-encoding genes, such as xyn1, xyn2, bxl1, cbh1, cbh2, egl1, and bgl1. Even though Xyr1 mediates the induction signal for all these genes derived from various inducing carbon sources and compounds, xyr1 transcription itself is not inducible by any of these substances. However, cultivation on glucose as the carbon source provokes carbon catabolite repression of xyr1 transcription mediated by Cre1. In addition, xyr1 transcription is repressed by the specific transcription factor Ace1. Moreover, Xyr1 is permanently available in the cell, and no de novo synthesis of this factor is needed for a first induction of xyn1 transcription. The constitutive expression of xyr1 leads to a significant elevation/deregulation of the xyn1, xyn2, and bxl1 transcription compared to what is seen for the parental strain. Overall, the corresponding xylanolytic enzyme activities are clearly elevated in a constitutively xyr1-expressing strain, emphasizing this factor as an auspicious target for genetically engineered strain improvement.
Endogenous Group Formation in Risk-Sharing Arrangements

We study informal insurance within communities, explicitly recognizing the possibility that subgroups of individuals may destabilize insurance arrangements among the larger group. We therefore consider self-enforcing risk-sharing agreements that are robust not only to single-person deviations but also to potential deviations by subgroups. However, such deviations must be credible, in the sense that the subgroup must pass exactly the same test that we apply to the entire group; it must itself employ some self-enforcing risk-sharing agreement. We observe that the stability of subgroups is inimical to the stability of the group as a whole. Two surprising consequences of this analysis are that stable groups have (uniformly) bounded size, a result in sharp contrast to the individual-deviation problem, and that the degree of risk-sharing in a community is generally non-monotonic in the level of uncertainty or need for insurance in the community.
Enterprise resource planning: risk and benefit analysis

Purpose – This article provides a brief review of current literature on ERP and its implementation in industries. To fully understand the ERP software key points, risks, benefits, critical success factors, implementation issues, and the fundamental on that are identified and reviewed. Some applications of ERP in public places, government offices, and industries are briefly discussed and four related cases are reviewed.Design/methodology/approach – Provides a background on enterprise resource planning implementation, key elements of ERP, and review four important cases from the literature in that regard. To better introduce ERP software to new users the risks and benefits of that are discussed in item lists and each are described briefly.Findings – Pointed to key benefits and risks of enterprise resource systems software and studies four cases from the literature related to the ERP implementation.Originality/value – Due to the fact that a better management of a system is related to the full understanding o.
Rankings of Academic Journals and Institutions

We conducted a worldwide ranking of academic institutions that produce research in a list of thirty top research journals in economics. We also computed journal rankings for the same period and hence we do not rely on weights that were computed for research carried out in earlier periods. The United States is clearly the dominant force in the top-fifty group, but European academic institutions are well represented in the group of the top 200 universities worldwide as are universities from Asia and the Far East in particular. (JEL: A14, A10)
Voting for Women: How the Public Evaluates Women Candidates

one hundred year time period how several different groups of challenger entrepreneurs defined rent-seeking positions, marshaled resources to reduce risk, and executed shakeout strategies that have allowed them to transform child support policy to support their particular views and beliefs. First, social workers as the challenger entrepreneurs are explored, focusing on their various organizing strategies and how the movement toward professionalization of the field of social work strengthened their ability to direct child support policy toward the provision of social services to single mothers (Chap. 4). Crowley then turns to the movement by conservatives and their success in the 1970s and early 1980s in redirecting the child support (and public assistance debate in general) toward automatic systems of welfare benefits and the pursuit of fathers of children on welfare for child support payments in order to reduce welfare spending (Chap. 5). Chapter 6 details women leaders as challenger entrepreneurs as they successfully sought to expand the child support enforcement system to non-welfare families. Finally, she concludes by describing the still continuing movement of fathers’ rights groups to redefine their role in the debate surrounding child support policy (Chap. 7). This study develops a useful theory of the process of policy change that could be applied to other policy fields in order to determine how and with what strategies challenger entrepreneurs have sought to reframe debate and change policies. The only real weakness in this study is that the challenger entrepreneurs described were generally successful in their pursuit of policy change; increased richness and strength could be attributed to the theory if examples of groups that failed to combine appropriate risk reduction and shakeout strategies were provided, resulting in the aforementioned three other types of politics. In addition, the discussion of the changing landscape of child support policy proceeds in a rather linear fashion in the treatment of the individual challenger groups and their strategies; more detail on other individuals or groups (other than the incumbents and next challengers) that were possibly percolating in the background during these periods would provide more support to the central idea of the need to study a policy field and its changes over time. Overall, this study is a well-written and interesting work that contributes to the knowledge base on the policy process and policy change in the United States.
Multiple adaptive responses of Australian native perennial legumes with pasture potential to grow in phosphorus- and moisture-limited environments.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Many Australian legumes have evolved in low-phosphorus (P) soils and low-rainfall areas. Therefore a study was made of the interaction of soil [P] and water availability on growth, photosynthesis, water-use efficiency (WUE) and P nutrition of two Australian native legumes with pasture potential, Cullen australasicum and C. pallidum, and the widely grown exotic pasture legume, lucerne (Medicago sativa). METHODS Plants were grown in a glasshouse at 3, 10 and 30 mg P kg(-1) dry soil for 5 months. At week 10, two drought treatments were imposed, total pot dried (all-dry) and only top soil dried (top-dry), while control pots were maintained at field capacity. KEY RESULTS Shoot dry weight produced by lucerne was never higher than that of C. australasicum. For C. pallidum only, shoot dry weight was reduced at 30 mg P kg(-1) dry soil. The small root system of the Cullen species was quite plastic, allowing plants to access P and moisture efficiently. Lucerne always had a higher proportion of its large root system in the top soil layer compared with Cullen species. All species showed decreased photosynthesis, leaf water potential and stomatal conductance when exposed to drought, but the reductions were less for Cullen species, due to tighter stomatal control, and consequently they achieved a higher WUE. All species showed highest rhizosphere carboxylate concentrations in the all-dry treatment. For lucerne only, carboxylates decreased as P supply increased. Citrate was the main carboxylate in the control and top-dry treatments, and malate in the all-dry treatment. CONCLUSIONS Multiple adaptive responses of Cullen species and lucerne favoured exploitation of low-P soils under drought. The performance of undomesticated Cullen species, relative to that of lucerne, shows their promise as pasture species for environments such as in south-western Australia where water and P are limiting, especially in view of a predicted drying and warming climate.
Virus Recombinant RSV derived from the RSV-A 2 strain and expressing the gene for red fluorescent protein ( rrRSV ) was a kind gift from Dr

Funding Information This work was supported in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health grant RO1HL61007 to Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte. Image acquisition and data analysis were performed at the WVU Microscope Imaging Core Facility, which was supported in part by the NIH grant P20RR016440. Flow cytometry experiments were performed in the WVU Flow Cytometry Core Facility, which was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grants RR106440 and RR020866. We are indebted to Dr. Mark Peeples (Nationwide Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Columbus, OH) and Dr. Peter Collins (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD) for providing the RFP-tagged RSV.
Vulnerability to xylem embolism as a major correlate of the environmental distribution of rain forest species on a tropical island.

Increases in drought-induced tree mortality are being observed in tropical rain forests worldwide and are also likely to affect the geographical distribution of tropical vegetation. However, the mechanisms underlying the drought vulnerability and environmental distribution of tropical species have been little studied. We measured vulnerability to xylem embolism (P50 ) of 13 woody species endemic to New Caledonia and with different xylem conduit morphologies. We examined the relation between P50 , along with other leaf and xylem functional traits, and a range of habitat variables. Selected species had P50 values ranging between -4.03 and -2.00 MPa with most species falling in a narrow range of resistance to embolism above -2.7 MPa. Embolism vulnerability was significantly correlated with elevation, mean annual temperature and percentage of species occurrences located in rain forest habitats. Xylem conduit type did not explain variation in P50 . Commonly used functional traits such as wood density and leaf traits were not related to embolism vulnerability. Xylem embolism vulnerability stands out among other commonly used functional traits as a major driver of species environmental distribution. Drought-induced xylem embolism vulnerability behaves as a physiological trait closely associated with the habitat occupation of rain forest woody species.
Nairobi's Informal Sector: Dynamic Entrepreneurs or Surplus Labor?

The 1972 International Labour Office (ILO) report on Kenya and its use of the term "informal sector" sparked off a great deal of controversy in the development literature over the meaning and usefulness of such a concept. ' Some critics have argued that the motivations and activities of participants in what is called the informal sector are so fundamentally diverse in nature that to write of a single sector which can be usefully incorporated in models of the urban economy of LDCs is fruitless. Partly as a response to these critics others have disaggregated the urban economy into two or three subsectors, which are then used to analyze the interdependence and explain the dynamics of the urban labor market through time. Unfortunately, the empirical base for testing these models and resolving some of these arguments is extremely sketchy and in most cases nonexistent. In a partial attempt to fill this lacuna, especially in Kenya, a survey of informal sector enterprises in Nairobi was launched in mid-1977. The results of the survey are used to test some general hypotheses about the sector, and the paper offers an alternative view of the role of the sector in the urban economy of an LDC, with particular reference to Kenya.
Prospects for a Distinctly Scottish Planning in a Post-sovereign Age

Debates on the sovereignty of the State and the role of (sub-national) regions have moved on quickly in recent years spurred on by interest in the implications of globalization and (more recently) devolution. Reductionist perspectives on the 'death of State sovereignty' have given way to more balanced understandings that emphasize bottom-up and top-down influences upon State restructuring. Yet the impacts of a changing sovereignty upon policy areas are still largely unknown. This paper seeks to add to these debates and cast some light on potential influences upon and autonomy of the Scottish Parliament vis-à-vis land use planning. The paper argues that despite expectations of policy divergence from academics and practitioners the Scottish Parliament has taken a modest approach to land use planning which mirrors that in the rest of the UK. Yet, the reasons for this are only partly explained by the 'death of the State' theses. Significantly, there is evidence of an expectation of reduced sovereignty which has had an impact upon the anticipation of change. In addition, party political loyalty, ideology, the mechanics of the devolution settlement and the fragmented nature of sovereignty have driven the agenda for planning under the Scottish Parliament all of which point towards a further convergence.
Exchange Rate Pass-Through into Import Prices: The Case of Chile

In this paper we estimate the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) into disaggregated import price data at monthly frequency. We work with import prices both at the border and at the wholesale level, and our results are consistent with the idea of a high ERPT— complete in the long-run—which has not declined for both pricing levels. In the shortrun, however, wholesale prices seem to be less sensitive to exchange rate variations. This may indicate the existence of a pass-through less than perfect in the distribution chain from prices at the border to its wholesale counterpart. In addition, we find weak evidence of asymmetric pass-through from appreciations versus depreciations for the aggregate import indexes. Finally, we also explore if the high and not declining ERPT is given by the fact that Chilean imports are concentrated in products with such ERPT, and our results support the view that this is not the case.
Tourism, climate change and adaptation: a review

The relationship between tourism and changing climate has been discussed and studied for a relatively long time in tourism research. Over the past 15 years, more focused studies have begun to appear, and especially recently, the issue of adaptation has been emphasised as an urgent research need in tourism and climate change studies. This paper is based on a systematic review of the tourism and adaptation literature prior to 2012. It discusses adaptation challenges, the dimensions of vulnerability in a tourism context and the implications of such studies on communities. By dividing the current adaptation studies into business; consumer; destination; and policy- and framework-focused theme areas and traditions, the paper concludes that adaptation studies in tourism have so far had a limited focus on community perceptions, which in general has been an area of major interest in tourism research. More emphasis on community-based research in relation to tourism and climate change allows highly contextual adaptation challenges to be met in a more sustainable way.
Uterine Endometrioid Carcinoma with Small Nonvillous Papillae: An Analysis of 26 Cases of a Favorable-Prognosis Tumor To Be Distinguished from Serous Carcinoma

We have encountered a number of endometrioid carcinomas with small papillary buds lacking fibrovascular cores that could be confused with the small cellular papillae of serous papillary carcinoma (SPC). We have designated these tumors “endometrioid carcinoma with small nonvillous papillae” (ECSP). Because they have not been investigated previously we analyzed 26 examples and compared their features with those of 21 SPCs of the uterus. Three hundred and ninety consecutive cases of endometrial carcinoma diagnosed between January, 1989, and January, 1994, were retrieved from our hospital files; 26 (6.7%) of them, (8% of the endometrioid carcinomas) were identified as ECSP, and 21 (5.4%) as SPC. Tumors were classified as ECSP when the small papillae were present within the glands of otherwise typical endometrioid carcinoma or on the villous projections of villoglandular endometrioid carcinoma. Most of the papillae were in the form of buds of cells with ample eosinophilic cytoplasm and a low nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio, but some papillae had a more complex pattern. The papillae arose on a background of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) grade 1 or 2 endometrioid carcinomas, which showed squamous differentiation in half the cases. SPCs were identified according to generally accepted criteria. The mean age of the patients with ECSP was 67 years, intermediate between that of the patients with endometrioid carcinoma lacking small nonvillous papillae (62 years) and that of the patients with SPC (71 years). Patients with ECSP more frequently presented at an earlier stage (73% stage I/LI) than those with SPC (29% stage I/II). The overall 5-year survival of patients with ECSP was 84% (95%CI: 0.68-1), more than double that of patients with SPC, 33% (95%CI: 0.10-0.56). ECSP may be confused with SPC on microscopic examination but has clinical and pathological features similar to those of endometrioid carcinoma lacking small nonvillous papillae, and unlike SPC, should be treated in the same manner as the former.
Using Service Blueprinting to Analyze Restaurant Service Efficiency*

A time and motion study of 152 transactions at six restaurants operated by a full-service casual chain in Florida illustrates the use of service blueprinting as a method for analyzing service process efficiency. At management’s request, the researchers conducted the time and motion study to observe the extent to which individual servers followed company-mandated policies and procedures, and how well those procedures worked. Although this is a case study only and the observations cannot be generalized, the researchers noted a mixed picture with regard to policy observance and service efficiency. The restaurant chain uses a wine presentation process as a suggestive selling technique on greeting guests, but in this study the wine presentation resulted in a smaller than anticipated number of glasses sold. Moreover, unlike most suggestive selling, the wine presentation was a separate process that did not mesh with the meal order and delivery. In addition, rather than follow policy and drop checks when they check back on entrées, servers were waiting until the end of the meal to present the check, often when guests requested it. This policy omission may have added time to the table occupancy and reduced table turns. One procedure that was regularly observed—and worked successfully—was the “food ready” policy, in which any server would carry food to any table when that food was ready (instead of having the food stand until the “official” server could get it). These examples demonstrate how a comparison of actual performance to the service blueprint can show areas of inefficiency, both in terms of failure to follow policy and in terms of policies that are not as effective as expected.
A Modern Money Perspective on Financial Crowding-out

Abstract The withdrawal of discretionary fiscal stimulus and a renewed emphasis on institutional and ‘self-imposed’ budgetary constraints are evidence that the imperative of fiscal sustainability and sound accounting fundamentals continue to drive fiscal policymaking within many advanced economies. To buttress the urgency for fiscal sustainability, neo-liberals often draw upon financial crowding-out theory. Despite an extensive literature, empirical applications are often misspecified due to their failure to account for different institutional arrangements. However, the policy responses of national governments to the Global Financial Crisis have highlighted the institutional disparities, presenting a unique opportunity for a rigorous empirical investigation. This paper develops panel vector error correction models for both sovereign and non-sovereign economies over the period 1999 to 2010 to examine financial crowding-out. The empirical evidence reveals crowding-out effects in non-sovereign economies, but not within sovereign economies.
Are hotel managers becoming more professional: the case of hotel financial controllers?

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the following question: does the industry context influence management attitudes towards being a professional? Design/methodology/approach – Previous research has identified traits that define a professional. Using this framework, the features of a profession are explored from the perspective of hotel financial controllers. Primary research is used to further explore attitudes towards the achievement of these traits.Findings – The characteristics of this particular industry do appear to impact on attitudes towards professionalism, from the perspective of organizations and the professional association, in comparison to more traditional professions. Although the industry desires to become more professional, there is unwillingness to promote career development and other approaches for hotel controllers. Individuals, however, wish to meet the desired traits and hence improve their personal status and careers.Research limitations/implications – This research has examined onl.