Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monoclonal antibodies to Cryptococcus neoformans capsular polysaccharide modify the course of intravenous infection in mice

Immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to the capsular glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) were studied for their ability to modify the course of intravenous Cryptococcus neoformans infection in mice. A/J mice were given intraperitoneal injection of 1.0 mg of either a GXM-binding IgG1 MAb (2H1 or 2D10 gamma 1) or the irrelevant isotype-matched control MAb 36-65 prior to intravenous infection. Parameters used to study antibody efficacy were lung and brain tissue fungal burden, lung and brain weights, serum GXM levels, and histopathological examination of lung, brain, heart, kidney, and spleen tissues. Mice given GXM-binding MAb had significantly reduced lung tissue fungal burden as measured by CFU. In contrast to the reduction in lung tissue burden, the reduction in brain tissue burden was small and did not achieve statistical significance. Serum GXM levels were reduced in mice receiving GXM-binding MAb. Histopathological examination revealed reduced numbers of granulomas and C. neoformans organisms in the lungs, brains, and kidneys of MAb 2H1-treated mice relative to control mice. The lungs and brains of mice receiving GXM-binding MAb weighed significantly less than those of control animals, consistent with the reduced inflammation noted histologically. Subendocardial inflammation and kidney cortical infarctions were present in control infected mice but not in MAb 2H1-treated mice. Immunocytochemical staining for polysaccharide antigen revealed a marked reduction in the amount of tissue polysaccharide in mice treated with MAb 2H1 relative to control mice. The results support an useful role for passive antibody administration in C. neoformans infections.
ANALYSIS OF THE MODERATING ROLE OF SERVICE FAILURE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: EVIDENCE FROM KENYA'S MOBILE PHONE SECTOR

Empirical studies on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction are inconclusive with some yielding positive results while others yielding weak insignificant and often negative results with limited efforts to resolve the conflict through a moderator investigation. The cause of these mixed results has remained unclear to date. Service failure, though seen as plausible moderator, is however not formally considered with its status and its likely effect on service quality-customer satisfaction relationship remaining unknown. The study sought to establish the moderating effects of service failure on the relationship between service quality practices on satisfaction levels of mobile phone subscribers in Kenya. Using a correlation research design on a population of 32.2 million, a sample of 384 subscribers of four mobile phones firms in Kenya was drawn using a proportionate stratified sampling technique. The study finding revealed that service failure negatively moderated the above relationship at β= -0.662,
Board Expertise and Executive Incentives

We investigate how board expertise affects chief executive officer (CEO) incentives and firm value. The CEO engages in a sequence of tasks: first acquiring information to evaluate a potential project, then reporting his or her assessment of the project to the board, and finally implementing the project if it is adopted. We demonstrate that the CEO receives higher compensation when the board agrees with the CEO on the assessment of the project. Board expertise leads to (weakly) better investment decisions and helps motivate the CEO's evaluation effort; however, it may induce underreporting and reduce the CEO's incentives to properly implement the project. Consequently, if motivating the CEO to evaluate projects is the major concern (e.g., innovative industries), board expertise exhibits an overall positive effect on firm value; however, if motivating the CEO to implement projects is the major concern (e.g., mature industries), board expertise can harm firm value. This paper was accepted by Shiva Rajgopal, accounting.
Antecedents, Modes and Effects of Back-Reshoring Strategies: The Experience of Italian Enterprises

The back-reshoring is an emerging phenomenon in the academic literature, representing a frontier for management studies. In a scenario in which most of research on enterprises internationalization has focused on the determinants and the ways in which firms grow abroad, contributions to describe and interpret the choices of relocation of manufacturing activities in the country of origin of the company are not as widespread. The backreshoring, however, has an increasingly important role in enterprises decisions and the antecedents of this strategy that few studies have so far identified are an increase in both the quality of the productions and the conditions of manufacturing flexibility. Based on this theoretical framework, this paper seeks to describe the behaviour of enterprises which have undertaken back-reshoring initiatives. Relating to the cases of some Italian enterprises, it’s possible to identify and interpret, from a management perspective, the determinants that have led to similar strategic decisions, the ways in which back-reshoring has been achieved and, finally, the benefits and problems that have emerged from this process of the international relocation of production.
Farmers’ Information Needs in Soap Opera Utilisation for Agricultural Enterprise Promotion in Southwestern Nigeria

Several studies have established workability and acceptance of entertainment-education and its variants like soap opera for disseminating agricultural information. However, little evidences exist on the information needs of farmers in respect of soap opera utilisation for agricultural information dissemination. This study therefore examined farmers’ information needs in soap opera utilisation for agricultural enterprise promotion in Southwestern Nigeria . Using a multistage sampling procedure, 150 farmers were randomly selected across selected states in the study area. Data were collected with the use of interview schedule on farmers’ enterprise characteristics, information needs and perceived constraints to the use of soap opera for agricultural based enterprise promotion. Data were analysed using descriptive (means and percentages) and inferential (PPMC) statistics at p=0.05. Almost half of the respondents (49.3%) were involved in crop production. Among livestock farmers, mean fish stock was 154.8 + 611.6 fish, while among agro-processor, 2.7% processed garri. Crop produced by farmers varied from maize (90.5%), cassava (85.3%) and leafy vegetables (43.2%). Higher proportion (95.3%) of farmers would like the soap opera to cover crop planting procedure (95.3%), marketing strategies (91.3%), rural health (86.0%) and seasonal rainfall prediction (84.0%), unstable power supply (275.8), unfavourable broadcasting hour (246.2) and language barrier (239.3) were identified as constraints to the use of soaps for agricultural enterprise promotion. Perceived constraints were not significantly correlated with farmers’ enterprise based information (r= 0.11; p=0.18). It is recommended that soap opera for agricultural enterprise promotion should focus on crop and livestock production with emphasis on preferred agricultural information types.
Use of cloned mtl genes of Escherichia coli to introduce mtl deletion mutations into the chromosome

The Escherichia coli mtl operon, which contains the cis-dominant regulatory region mtlC, the mannitol-specific enzyme II structural gene mtlA, and the D-mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase structural gene mtlD, was cloned into plasmid pBR322. A 2-kilobase pair fragment of the mtl operon DNA containing the mtlA gene was subcloned into plasmid pACYC184. The direction of transcription of the cloned mtlA gene was determined. Localization of the mtlA gene on the cloned mtl operon DNA allowed in vitro construction of plasmid derivatives containing specific deletions in the mtl region. These plasmid derivatives were used to generate the corresponding mtl chromosomal deletions by homologous recombination at frequencies greater than 10(-4).
Breaking the Shackles: Zombie Firms, Weak Banks and Depressed Restructuring in Europe

This paper explores the connection between “zombie” firms (firms that would typically exit in a competitive market) and bank health and the consequences for aggregate productivity in 11 European countries. Controlling for cyclical effects, the results show that zombie firms are more likely to be connected to weak banks, suggesting that the zombie firm problem in Europe may at least partly stem from bank forbearance. The increasing survival of zombie firms congests markets and constrains the growth of more productive firms, to the detriment of aggregate productivity growth. Our results suggest that around one-third of the impact of zombie congestion on capital misallocation could be directly attributed to bank health and additional analysis suggests that this may partly be due to reduced availability of credit to healthy firms. Finally, improvements in bank health are more likely to be associated with a reduction in the prevalence of zombie firms in countries where insolvency regimes do not unduly inhibit corporate restructuring. Thus, leveraging the important complementarities between bank strengthening efforts and insolvency regime reform would contribute to breaking the shackles on potential growth in Europe.
Credit guarantee schemes for SME lending in Western Europe

This report discusses the activity of credit guarantee schemes (CGSs) in Western Europe and presents an analysis based on a novel survey, conducted by the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group1, among 18 credit guarantee organisations in 13 countries and 33 banks operating in 17 countries. The report aims at providing a deeper insight into the driving motives and operational mechanisms of CGSs, and the financial intermediaries that use them. The current publication is a successor of an earlier report, published in 2014 by the European Bank Coordination "Vienna Initiative" Working Group on CGSs (EBCI, 2014), which provides a comprehensive overview on the use of CGSs for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) lending in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CESEE).
The effects of increasing garlic powder and monensin supplementation on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, growth performance and blood parameters of growing calves.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of increasing garlic powder and monensin supplementation on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, growth performance and blood metabolites of growing calves. Forty Holstein calves (BW = 100 ± 11 kg) were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments (n = 10) in a complete randomized design. Experimental treatments consisted of the following: (i) basal diet (control), (ii) basal diet supplemented with 0.0003% of dietary dry matter (DM) sodium monensin, (iii) low level of garlic powder (Low-GAR; 0.5% of dietary DM) and (iv) high level of garlic powder (High-GAR; 1% of dietary DM). DM intake (DMI) and DM digestibility were (p < 0.05) decreased by High-GAR. However, calves supplemented with Low-GAR had a similar DMI to the control calves and similar DM digestibility to the control and monensin groups. The digestibility of other nutrients were not affected by the treatments. Although supplementing monensin relative to Low-GAR increased the DMI (p < 0.05), average daily gain was similar between Low-GAR and monensin supplemented calves, which were higher than the control and High-GAR groups (p < 0.05). As a result, feed conversion ratio was improved in the Low-GAR group versus other treatment groups (p < 0.05). Administrating garlic powder decreased the blood low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and non-esterified fatty acids (p < 0.05) without affecting the blood triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein and beta-hydroxybutyric acid concentrations. In conclusion, the calves fed the Low-GAR showed an improved FCR and blood metabolites without changing the DMI and nutrient digestibility. It suggests that garlic powder could be used as an alternative to monensin for growing calves under the current feeding conditions.
ANALISIS KINERJA PERUSAHAAN DAN ABNORMAL RETURN SAHAM SEBELUM DAN SESUDAH AKUISISI

This study aimed to analyze the differences in firm performance and abnormal stock returns before and after the acquisition on corporate acquisitions activity. Corporate performance is measured by using financial ratio: Net Profit Margin (NPM), Erning Per Share (EPS), Total Asset Trun Oven (TATO), Current Ratio (CR) and Debt Ratio.Quantitative method is used in this research, take the data of public company which had conducted mergers and acquisitions in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and announce its activity in the period 2013. Sampling method applied in this reaserch is purposive sampling, while there are nine acquirer companies entering in research criterion. Data analysis method data normality, difference test Paired Sample T-Test analysis Market Adjusted Mode). The results of the testing of the hypothesis shows that there are significant differences in the ratio erning per share (EPS) Total Asset Trun Oven (TATO), Net Profit Margin (NPM), and Abnormal Return, but the results of testing against the Debt Ratio and Current Ratio (CR) there significant difference Keywords: Net Profit Margin (NPM), erning per share (EPS), Total Asset Trun Oven (TATO), Debt Ratio and Current Ratio (CR); abnormal Return
Design of testis cancer trials: who knows best?

close or positive margins who did not receive RT. Patients who did not receive RT were older compared with patients who did receive RT (median age, 59 v 56 years; P .002). Some of the patients in our cohort declined RT although it was recommended. Overall, more than 75% of the patients in our entire population received RT, and the recurrence rate in the entire population was low, which may explain why we did not find that RT was a predictor of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence in our cohort. Our definitions of time period of surgery and number of excisions differed from the definitions used by the Memorial SloanKettering authors, which we explained in the methods and results sections of our article. Those variables with alternative definitions were only used in our Cox model. The 5and 10-year predictive values were calculated through the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Web site and thus would not be affected by the definitions of variables. The nomogram was correctly applied for all of our patients. Tumor size is an important variable for studying recurrence, and some studies have found an association between tumor size and recurrence of ductal carcinoma in situ. Tumor size was not included in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering analysis. Perhaps tumor size was not always available in their cohort, which may be the reason why the number of excisions was used as a surrogate. There was no discussion in their article abouttherelationshipbetweennumberofexcisionsandlargetumorsize. The effects of treatments and time period alone in the nomogram may not be sufficient to explain the outcomes. The nomogram will not completely account for differences in treatment trends over time as a result of the missing interaction term. The interaction term would provide different predictions for no RT before 1999 versus no RT after 1999 and RT before 1999 versus RT after 1999.
Oxygenated Phosphine Fumigation for Control of Epiphyas postvittana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Eggs on Lettuce

ABSTRACT Light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walker), is a quarantined pest in most countries. Its establishment in California and potential spread to other parts of the state and beyond make it urgent to develop effective postharvest treatments to control the pest on fresh commodities. Fumigation with cylindered phosphine at low temperature has emerged to be a practical methyl bromide alternative treatment for postharvest pest control on fresh commodities. However, its use to control E. postvittana eggs on sensitive commodities such as lettuce is problematic. E. postvittana eggs are tolerant of phosphine and long phosphine treatment also injures lettuce. In the current study, E. postvittana eggs were subjected to oxygenated phosphine fumigations to develop an effective treatment at a low storage temperature of 2°C. In addition, soda lime as a CO2 absorbent was tested to determine its effects in reducing and preventing injuries to lettuce associated with phosphine fumigations. Three-day fumigation with 1,000 ppm phosphine under 60% O2 achieved 100% mortality of E. postvittana eggs in small-scale laboratory tests. In the presence of the CO2 absorbent, a 3-d large-scale fumigation of lettuce with 1,700 ppm phosphine under 60% O2 resulted in a relative egg mortality of 99.96% without any negative effect on lettuce quality. The 3-d fumigation treatment without the CO2 absorbent, however, resulted in significant injuries to lettuce and consequential quality reductions. The study demonstrated that oxygenated phosphine fumigation has the potential to control E. postvittana eggs and the CO2 absorbent has the potential to prevent injuries and quality reductions of lettuce associated with long-term oxygenated phosphine fumigation.
Analisis Flypaper Effect pada Pengujian Pengaruh Dana Alokasi Umum (DAU), Pendapatan Asli Daerah (PAD), Dan Sisa Lebih Penghitungan Anggaran (SILPA) terhadap Belanja Pemerintah Daerah di Indonesia (Studi Tahun 2012-2014)

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh PAD, DAU, dan SiLPA terhadap belanja pemerintah daerah serta untuk mengetahui terjadi atau tidak terjadi flypaper effect dalam pengelolaan keuangan pemerintah daerah di Indonesia selama periode tahun 2012 sampai 2014. Penelitian ini juga akan membuktikan apakah pemerintah daerah bergantung pada transfer pemerintah pusat untuk membiayai seluruh pengeluarannya. Objek penelitian ini mencakup seluruh pemerintah daerah yang ada di Indonesia yang mempublikasikan laporan realisasi APBD tahunan (annual) di situs Direktorat Jenderal Perimbangan Keuangan Pemerintah Daerah tahun 2012 hingga 2013 dan Laporan Keuangan Pemerintah Daerah (LKPD) kabupaten atau kota di Indonesia tahun 2014 yang telah diaudit Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan (BPK). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa PAD berpengaruh signifikan dan mempunyai hubungan yang positif terhadap belanja daerah, DAU berpengaruh signifikan dan mempunyai hubungan yang positif terhadap belanja daerah, serta SiLPA juga berpengaruh signifikan dan mempunyai hubungan yang positif terhadap belanja daerah. Nilai koefisien DAU lebih besar dari PAD dan keduanya signifikan. Hal ini menunjukkan terjadinya flypaper effect pada pengelolaan keuangan pemerintah daerah di Indonesia selama periode tahun 2012 sampai 2014.
Warfarin vs aspirin for symptomatic intracranial stenosis: Subgroup analyses from WASID

The WASID trial showed no advantage of warfarin over aspirin for preventing the primary endpoint of ischemic stroke, brain hemorrhage, or vascular death. In analyses of selected subgroups, there was no definite benefit from warfarin. Warfarin reduced the risk of the primary endpoint among patients with basilar artery stenosis, but there was no reduction in stroke in the basilar artery territory or benefit for vertebral artery stenosis or posterior circulation disease in general.
Measuring the Impact of an Unanticipated Suspension of Ride-Sourcing in Austin, Texas

On May 7, 2016, residents of Austin, Texas, voted against Proposition 1, which would have allowed ridesourcing/transportation networking companies (TNCs) to continue using their own background check systems. The defeat of the proposition prompted Uber and Lyft to suspend services in Austin indefinitely. The disruption provided for a natural experiment to evaluate the impact of Uber and Lyft on users’ travel demand and the supply side implications of the entry of new players. Our paper focuses solely on the demand side user response to the disruption. In examining the impact, we conducted an online survey that combines stated and revealed preference questions (N=1,840) of former Uber and/or Lyft users in Austin to explore the effect of the disruption on travel behavior. In order to test our hypothesis of the impact of the service suspension on changes in travel mode choice and trip frequency we used regression analyses to model both the before and after travel behavioral pattern. Our analysis revealed that of the population surveyed, 45% switched to the use of personal vehicles after disruption while only 3% shifted to public transit. Individuals who switched to personal vehicles also include 8.9% of respondents who reported purchasing a vehicle in response to the service disruption. In addition, an individual who switched to a personal vehicle increased his or her probability of a higher trip frequency post disruption by 14%. The probability of a higher trip frequency for individuals who were satisfied with the quality of Uber and Lyft services pre-disruption however decreased from 21% to 6%.
Factors affecting customers’ intention to use of location-based services (LBS) in the lodging industry

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of customers’ intentions to use location-based services (LBS) offered by a hotel. The study examined whether hotel customers’ coupon proneness, trust, privacy concerns and familiarity with LBS are significant determinants of their intentions to use LBS. Design/methodology/approach An online survey using a scenario-based narrative was administered to collect data from participants who have smartphones and have stayed at a full-service hotel within the previous 12 months. A research model tested data collected from 402 hotel customers, using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings Three proposed determinants (i.e. familiarity, coupon proneness and trust) positively influenced customers’ intentions to use LBS. Out of the four dimensions of privacy concerns (concerns of collection, error, unauthorized secondary use and improper access), only concerns about data collection negatively influenced customers’ intentions to use a hotel’s LBS. Originality/value This study extends the literature on LBS adoption and other technology with privacy issues by modifying existing models and empirically testing it in the new context of hotels.
The infection processes of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in cotyledon tissue of a resistant and a susceptible genotype of Brassica napus.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Sclerotinia sclerotiorum can attack >400 plant species worldwide. Very few studies have investigated host-pathogen interactions at the plant surface and cellular level in resistant genotypes of oilseed rape/canola (Brassica napus). METHODS Infection processes of S. sclerotiorum were examined on two B. napus genotypes, one resistant cultivar 'Charlton' and one susceptible 'RQ001-02M2' by light and scanning electron microscopy from 2 h to 8 d post-inoculation (dpi). KEY RESULTS The resistant 'Charlton' impeded fungal growth at 1, 2 and 3 dpi, suppressed formation of appresoria and infection cushions, caused extrusion of protoplast from hyphal cells and produced a hypersensitive reaction. At 8 dpi, whilst in 'Charlton' pathogen invasion was mainly confined to the upper epidermis, in the susceptible 'RQ001-02M2', colonization up to the spongy mesophyll cells was evident. Calcium oxalate crystals were found in the upper epidermis and in palisade cells in susceptible 'RQ001-02M2' at 6 dpi, and throughout leaf tissues at 8 dpi. In resistant 'Charlton', crystals were not observed at 6 dpi, whereas at 8 dpi they were mainly confined to the upper epidermis. Starch deposits were also more prevalent in 'RQ001-02M2'. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates for the first time at the cellular level that resistance to S. sclerotiorum in B. napus is a result of retardation of pathogen development, both on the plant surface and within host tissues. The resistance mechanisms identified in this study will be useful for engineering disease-resistant genotypes and for developing markers for screening for resistance against this pathogen.