Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HIV-1 Infection Abrogates CD8+ T Cell Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Responses

ABSTRACT Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are dynamic and sensitive regulators of T cell function and differentiation. Altered MAPK signaling has been associated with the inflammatory and autoimmune diseases lupus and arthritis and with some pathogenic viral infections. HIV-1 infection is characterized by chronic immune inflammation, aberrantly heightened CD8+ T cell activation levels, and altered T cell function. The relationship between MAPK pathway function, HIV-1-induced activation (CD38 and HLA-DR), and exhaustion (Tim-3) markers in circulating CD8+ T cells remains unknown. Phosphorylation of the MAPK effector proteins ERK and p38 was examined by “phosflow” flow cytometry in 79 recently HIV-1-infected, antiretroviral-treatment-naïve adults and 21 risk-matched HIV-1-negative controls. We identified a subset of CD8+ T cells refractory to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate plus ionomycin-induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation (referred to as p-ERK1/2-refractory cells) that was greatly expanded in HIV-1-infected adults. The CD8+ p-ERK1/2-refractory cells were highly activated (CD38+ HLA-DR+) but not exhausted (Tim-3 negative), tended to have low CD8 expression, and were enriched in intermediate and late transitional memory states of differentiation (CD45RA− CD28− CD27+/−). Targeting MAPK pathways to restore ERK1/2 signaling may normalize immune inflammation levels and restore CD8+ T cell function during HIV-1 infection.
Transactional hazards, institutional change, and capabilities: Integrating the theories of the firm

Using a detailed dataset from the Chilean construction industry, we explore how the predictions of the transaction cost and capabilities theories interact to explain building contractors' decisions to �make or buy� the specialty trade activities needed to complete a construction project. We show that the contractor's productive capabilities strongly mediate the relationship between transaction hazards that originate from either temporal specificity or an exogenous change in the subcontracting law and the vertical integration decision. The inclusion of differential capabilities and its interaction with transactional hazards infuse contractors' boundary choices with systematic patterns of heterogeneity and contribute to the integration of these theoretical perspectives. Our analysis corrects for the endogeneity of the capabilities variable and provides a detailed assessment of the marginal effects in logit models.
Evaluating Compound Splitters Extrinsically with Textual Entailment

Traditionally, compound splitters are evaluated intrinsically on gold-standard data or extrinsically on the task of statistical machine translation. We explore a novel way for the extrinsic evaluation of compound splitters, namely recognizing textual entailment. Compound splitting has great potential for this novel task that is both transparent and well-defined. Moreover, we show that it addresses certain aspects that are either ignored in intrinsic evaluations or compensated for by taskinternal mechanisms in statistical machine translation. We show significant improvements using different compound splitting methods on a German textual entailment dataset.
Paget’s Disease of Bone and Calcium Homeostasis: Focus on Bisphosphonate Treatment

Abstract Paget’s disease of bone (PDB) is the second most common metabolic bone disease. Bisphosphonates (BPs) are currently the drugs of choice for PDB. PDB and osteomalacia are both common in the elderly. The concept of relative vitamin D deficiency in patients with PDB was suggested long ago, but it has not yet elucidated. Both diseases predispose to fractures, but their combined action to fragility has not been studied yet. The older BPs, mainly etidronate, further inhibit bone mineralization. Mineralization defects have also been described in patients with PDB treated with pamidronate. Moreover, hypocalcemia and secondary hyperparathyroidism after treatment with BPs have been described in PDB. Hypocalcemia seems to be more severe after treatment with the more potent, intravenous zoledronic acid, which is currently the treatment of choice for PDB. The counteracting hyperparathyroidism pathophysiologically intends to increase renal reabsorption of calcium and 1.25-dihydroxy vitamin D production and to stimulate osteoclasts in order to prevent long-term hypocalcemia. However, the effect of PTH on osteoclasts is, at least partly, restricted in patients taking BPs. Secondary hyperparathyroidism is a potentially detrimental condition, especially in patients already suffering from another bone disease. Serum calcium and vitamin D deficiency should be restored before BP treatment and calcium and vitamin D administration should be possibly continued for longer after achieving normocalcemia, which may shorten the duration of secondary hyperparathyroidism. Quick summary: Mineralization defects and hypocalcemia with secondary hyperparathyroidism have been described in patients with Paget’s disease of bone treated with bisphosphonates. Secondary hyperparathyroidism may be a potentially detrimental condition for patients with Paget’s disease of bone.
Urbanization and the Wealth of Nations

The proportion of a country's population living in urban areas is highly correlated with its level of income. Urban areas offer economies of scale and richer market structures, and there is strong evidence that workers in urban areas are individually more productive, and earn more, than rural workers. However, rapid urbanization is also associated with crowding, environmental degradation, and other impediments to productivity. Overall, we find no evidence that the level of urbanization affects the rate of economic growth. Our findings weaken the rationale for either encouraging or discouraging urbanization as part of a strategy for economic growth.
A randomized, double‐blind crossover study of tamsulosin and controlled‐release doxazosin in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

To compare the effects of the doxazosin gastrointestinal therapeutic system, extended‐release (doxazosin‐GITS) formulation, and tamsulosin, another α1‐antagonist, on total International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) in treating patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Stock Repurchases and Incentive Compensation

A longstanding puzzle in corporate finance is the rise of stock repurchases as a means of distributing earnings to shareholders. While most attempts to explain repurchase behavior focus on the incentives of firms, this paper focuses on the incentives of the agents who run firms, as determined by those agents' compensation packages. The increased use of repurchases coincided with an increasing reliance on stock options to compensate top managers, and stock options encourage managers to choose repurchases over conventional dividend payments because repurchases, unlike dividends, do not dilute the per-share value of the stock. Consistent with the stock option hypothesis, I find that firms which rely heavily on stock-option-based compensation are significantly more likely to repurchase their stock than firms which rely less heavily on stock options to compensate their top executives. I find no such relationship between repurchases and restricted stock, an alternative form of stock-based compensation that, unlike stock options, is not diluted by dividend payments. These findings have implications for the study of other puzzles concerning firms' payout behavior, and for the study of the effects of executive compensation packages on managerial incentives.
Role of p53 in preadipocyte differentiation

Insulin resistance, diabetes and many kinds of cancers are common in overweight and obese individuals. The tumor suppressor p53 is important in securing genetic stability, but its role in the regulation of metabolic processes and cell differentiation remains unclear. We have investigated the role of p53 in adipocyte differentiation. Using 3T3‐L1 cells, a mouse embryonic fibroblast preadipocyte model and DIO rat model, p53 expression and function during adipocyte differentiation were investigated. p53 expression increased on the second and fourth day of adipocyte differentiation and decreased thereafter. Its overexpression in 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes markedly reduced adipogenesis and marker gene expression. p53 activity was weakened in DIO rat abdominal adipose tissue because of an decreased expression of its activated phosphorylated form. In contrast, p53 knockout enhanced adipogenesis and the expression of marker genes, but significantly reduced insulin‐stimulated Akt phosphorylation. These results indicate that p53 partly suppresses preadipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis by regulating adipocyte gene expression and Akt signaling.
Credit Supply Shocks, Financial Constraints and Investments for Small and Medium-sized Firms

In this paper, we find that reduced credit supply reduces firm investments in our sample of small private firms. The effect is strongest for the least financially constrained firms. We use a representative survey of identified Norwegian firms that is linked with financial, bank account and ownership data, and take advantage of the financial crisis in 2008–9 as a natural experiment. We examine several potential explanations for our findings, asking: (i) did the financially constrained firms hedge against potential future credit supply shocks? (ii) did they have better access to shareholder funding? or (iii) was the effect driven by past investment patterns? We find that access to shareholder funding during the crisis offset the differences in the effects of reduced credit supply on investments across conventional financial constraint categories. The findings suggest that only examining the correlation between credit supply and investments for the ex ante most financially constrained firms during economic downturns is unlikely to capture the full dynamics of the credit channel on the business cycle.
Isolation of mycoplasmatales virus-laidlawii 3, a new virus infecting Acholeplasma laidlawii.

Two fundamentally different viruses that infect Acholeplasma laidlawii have so far been isolated. They have been designated Mycoplasmatales virus-laidlawii 1 (MV-L1) and Mycoplasmatales virus-laidlawii 2 (MV-L2). MV-L1 is an unenveloped helical DNA virus, 16 nm in diameter and 90 nm in length (Bruce et al. 1972); while MV-L2 is a predominantly spherical enveloped virus with a mean diameter of 80 nm (range 52 to 125 nm). Its nucleic acid appears to be DNA (Gourlay et al. 1973). This report describes the isolation of another virus which infects A. laidlawii and which differs from both MV-L1 and MV-L2. Four serial tenfold dilutions of two clones of the M1305/68 strain of Acholeplasma laidlawii resistant to MV-L2 (Gourlay, 1972) were prepared in phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.3, containing 5% foetal calf serum. Drops (0.02 ml) of each dilution were placed on glucose serum (GS) agar plates (Gourlay & Wyld, 1972) and the plates were examined after incubation at 37 °C for 48 h.
Supplier Cost Evaluation: Estimating the Excess Costs of Purchased Components

The performance of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is driven in part by the quality, delivery, and cost performance of its first-tier suppliers. Many different methods for evaluating supplier-related costs have appeared in the purchasing and quality literature. After identifying four supplier cost performance systems in current use at OEMs, the author focuses on total cost of ownership (TCO) systems. He develops an innovative, activity-based method of estimating model-year “excess costs” for a component. Such excess costs are shown to be the incremental supply chain costs of the component, as compared to ideal. The method is implemented in spreadsheet software, and an example application of this tool is provided. Potential uses for such component-specific excess cost estimates include sourcing, price negotiations, supplier rating, analysis of improvement proposals, and sharing in the costs and benefits of supplier improvement.
Closed-form Solution for IMU based LSD-SLAM Point Cloud Conversion into the Scaled 3D World Environment

SLAM is a very popular research stream in computer vision and robotics nowadays. For more effective SLAM implementation it is necessary to have reliable informa- tion about the environment, also the data should be aligned and scaled according to the real world coordinate system. Monocular SLAM research is an attractive sub-stream, because of the low equipment cost, size and weight. In this paper we present a way to build a conversion from LSD-SLAM coordinate space to the real world coordinates using a true metric scale with IMU sensor data implementation. The causes of differences between the real and calculated spaces are explained and the possibility of conversions between the spaces is proved. Additionally, a closed-form solution for inter space trans- formation calculation is presented. The synthetic method of generating high level accurate and well controlled input data for the LSD-SLAM algorithm is presented. Finally, the reconstructed 3D environment representation is delivered as an output of the implemented conversion.
Cadmium and mercury in cephalopod molluscs: Estimated weekly intake

Cadmium and mercury concentrations were measured in the flesh and hepatopancreas of different species of cephalopod molluscs (European squid, common octopus, curled octopus, horned octopus, pink cuttlefish, common cuttlefish) in order to establish whether the concentrations exceeded the maximum levels fixed by the European Commission. In hepatopancreas, the levels of cadmium were substantially higher than those in flesh (flesh 0.11–0.87 µg g−1 wet weight, hepatopancreas 2.16–9.39 µg g−1 wet weight), whilst the levels of mercury (flesh 0.13–0.55 µg g−1 wet weight, hepatopancreas 0.23–0.79 µg g−1) were approximately double those in flesh. Concentrations exceeding the maximum permitted limit of cadmium were found in 39.8 and 41.0% of common octopus and pink cuttlefish flesh, respectively. For mercury, concentrations above the limit were found only in octopuses, and precisely in 36.8, 50.0 and 20.0% of flesh samples of common, curled and horned octopus, respectively. In the hepatopancreas, concentrations of cadmium and mercury were above the proposed limits in all the samples examined. The estimated weekly intake of between 0.09 and 0.49 µg kg−1 body weight for cadmium and between 0.05 and 0.24 µg kg−1 body weight for mercury made only a small contribution to the provisional tolerable weekly intake (cadmium 1.3–7.0%, mercury 1.0–4.8%) set by the WHO.
Effects of public infrastructure capital on the economic development and productivity of the metropolitan and peripheral regions of Greece: 1976-1992.

The relationship between economic development and public infrastructure capital has puzzled economists, economic geographers, planners, and other social scientists, for many years. This thesis presents an attempt to theorise and conduct empirical research on this field in the context of a developing economy within the European Union - Greece. Key to understanding the work undertaken in this thesis is the wider theoretical and applied research, which has flourished in the US and other countries during the last decade. The thesis examines the effects of public capital investment on Greek economic development viewed at different spatial scales. More specifically, it explores the role of infrastructure spending at national, regional, and urban (metropolitan area of Athens) levels. The empirical presentation begins with a description of the Public Investment Programme from 1976 onwards. This is the main channel for public investment in infrastructure capital in Greece. Its various public capital sub-categories have been aggregated into two basic types, 'productive' and 'social' infrastructure. The next step was to utilise a production function analytical framework and panel data analysis to explore the direct and network effects of infrastructure investment on manufacturing industry. Positive effects of infrastructure spending are apparent. An alternative approach, cost function analysis, is deployed in the second major empirical section. Using various spatial levels, the role of public capital on the private costs of production can be examined by the calibration of a cost function for industrial sectors. The results show that infrastructure investment reduces private costs in manufacturing at most spatial levels. Finally, the thesis investigates other direct and indirect channels by which public capital can affect the non-manufacturing and manufacturing sectors of the private economy. The empirical findings show that there is no significant infrastructure impact on the former sector, whereas there are mixed results for the indirect channels on manufacturing. It can be safely argued that the public capital and regional development relationship is a complex one, especially as infrastructure effects can be different at different spatial levels.
State-of-the-Art Three-Dimensional Chemical Characterization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Using Focused Ion Beam Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Tomography

Abstract In this paper the potential of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy combined with focused ion beam technology to characterize the composition of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) in three-dimension is demonstrated. The very high sensitivity of this method allows even very small amounts of elements/compounds to be detected and localized. Therefore, interlayer diffusion of elements between porous electrodes and presence of pollutants can be analyzed with a spatial resolution of the order of 100 nm. However, proper element recognition and mass interference still remain important issues. Here, we present a complete elemental analysis of the SOFC as well as techniques that help to validate the reliability of obtained results. A discussion on origins of probable artifacts is provided.
Colitogenic Th1 Cells Are Present in the Antigen-Experienced T Cell Pool in Normal Mice: Control by CD4+ Regulatory T Cells and IL-101

CD4+ regulatory T cells have been shown to prevent intestinal inflammation; however, it is not known whether they act to prevent the priming of colitogenic T cells or actively control these cells as part of the memory T cell pool. In this study, we describe the presence of colitogenic Th1 cells within the CD4+CD45RBlow population. These pathogenic cells enrich within the CD25− subset and are not recent thymic emigrants. CD4+CD45RBlow cells from germfree mice were significantly reduced in their ability to transfer colitis to immune deficient recipients, suggesting the presence of commensal bacteria in the donor mice drives colitogenic T cells into the Ag-experienced/memory T cell pool. This potentially pathogenic population of Ag-experienced T cells is subject to T cell-mediated regulation in vivo by both CD4+CD25+ and CD4+CD25− cells in an IL-10-dependent manner. Furthermore, administration of an anti-IL-10R mAb to unmanipulated adult mice was sufficient to induce the development of colitis. Taken together, these data indicate that colitogenic Th1 cells enter into the Ag-experienced pool in normal mice, but that their function is controlled by regulatory T cells and IL-10. Interestingly, IL-10 was not absolutely required for CD4+CD25+ T cell-mediated inhibition of colitis induced by transfer of naive CD4+CD45RBhigh cells, suggesting a differential requirement for IL-10 in the regulation of naive and Ag-experienced T cells.
Adult‐onset centronuclear myopathy: evidence against a neurogenic pathology

ABSTRACT A case of sporadic adult‐onset centronuclear myopathy is presented. EMG was myopathic and nerve conduction study entirely normal. Single‐fiber electromyography showed a normal percentage of potential pairs with abnormal jitter, slightly increased mean jitter value, no blocking and normal fiber density. Somatosensory and motor evoked potentials were within the normal limits. While it is still a subject of debate whether centronuclear myopathy is neuropathic or myopathic in origin, our findings are against peripheral nerve and CNS involvement.
TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR β CONTRIBUTES TO LUNG LEAK IN RATS GIVEN INTERLEUKIN-1 INTRATRACHEALLY

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is increased in lung lavages obtained from patients with acute lung injury (ALI) and administering recombinant human IL-1 α (rhIL-1 α) (50 ng) intratracheally causes an acute, neutrophil-dependent, oxidative lung leak in rats that closely resembles human ALI. In the present work, the authors tested the hypothesis that transforming growth factor β (TGF β) contributes to the lung inflammation and injury that develops in rats given IL-1 intratracheally. They found that intravenous administration of a monoclonal antibody to TGF β (1.D.11.16, 0.5 mg/kg) attenuated lung injury responses, specifically lung leak index, lung lavage protein concentrations, and blood oxygenation abnormalities, that are observed 5 hours after intratracheal instillation of IL-1 in rats, but did not decrease indices of lung inflammation, specifically myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in lung tissue, neutrophil counts in lung lavage, and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC) levels in lung lavage, in rats given IL-1 intratracheally. The results suggest that TGF β contributes to lung leak, but not lung inflammation, following intratracheal administration of IL-1 in rats.
Ranking, Risk-Taking and Effort: An Analysis of the ECB’s Foreign Reserves Management

The investment of the ECB reserves in US dollars and yen involves an annual performance assessment of portfolio managers, located in the Eurosystemi? ½s national central banks. Employing new data on individual portfolios during 2002-2009, we study this peculiar tournament and show the existence of risk-shifting behaviour by reserve managers related to their year-to-date ranking: interim losers increase relative risk in the second half of the year, in the same way as mutual fund managers. In the dollar case the adjustment to ranking is reduced or offset if reserve managers have achieved a positive interim performance against the benchmark. Yen reserve managers that rank low show a tendency to increase effort, as proxied by portfolio turnover. Those who ranked low in the previous year tend to reduce risk significantly. Since reserve managers should have a comparative advantage over the benchmark within a monthly horizon, possible enhancements to the design of the tournament might involve an increased reward for effort and performance by means of a convex scoring system linked to monthly, rather than annual, performance.
ANALISA PENGARUH HARGA, PROMOSI DAN VIRAL MARKETING TERHADAP KEPUTUSAN PEMBELIAN PADA "ONLINE SHOP" S-NEXIAN MELALUI FACEBOOK

The emergences of Social Media provide all the ease to communicate just like real life. Activities that could be done by consumers also variety in Social Media, starting from search information about products, comparing other products until to make purchases online. Seeing this, many companies begin entering the social media for the benefit of their company, whether it is to increase the awareness, engagement to the customer, and even conduct online sales. S-Nexian is one of the companies that have been doing online sales through Facebook with the program "Online Shop". This research aims to investigate the influence of variable pricing, promotion and viral marketing on purchasing online decisions using a survey of the S-Nexian fans that have made a purchase online. Results from this study were the effect of variable pricing, promotion and viral marketing positive influence on purchase decisions through the "Online Shop" S-Nexian. Viral marketing was a variable that has most contributed. Through this research, the expectation of using Facebook as a tool to promote the "Online Shop" program of S-Nexian could be improved, because of every promotion could be directly received and prompt responded by consumers.