Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Essential roles of TGF‐β in anti‐CD3 antibody therapy: reversal of diabetes in nonobese diabetic mice independent of Foxp3+CD4+ regulatory T cells

Anti‐CD3 mAb have potentials to treat overt autoimmunity as reported recently. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this report, using an animal model of type 1 diabetes, we found that TGF‐β1, an important immunoregulatory cytokine, plays a critical role in anti‐CD3‐mediated diabetes reversion and immune tolerance. Anti‐CD3 treatment increased the TGF‐β1 production, lasting for a long period of time, which contributed to maintaining peripheral tolerance by controlling pathogenic cells. Furthermore, we found that anti‐CD3 treatment did not increase the forkhead box p3+ (Foxp3+)CD4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). When fractionated from anti‐CD3‐treated, remitting mice and cotransferred with splenic cells from diabetic NOD mice, these Tregs failed to inhibit diabetes development in NOD.scid mice. Moreover, we found that the depletion of these Tregs did not affect an anti‐CD3‐mediated, therapeutic effect and the level of TGF‐β1 production, which suggested that an increased level of TGF‐β1 may not derive from these Tregs. Thus, our data showed a dispensable role of Foxp3+CD4+ Tregs in anti‐CD3 antibody‐reversed diabetes in NOD mice. These findings may have an important implication for understanding the involved mechanisms responsible for immunomodulatory function of anti‐CD3 antibody on autoimmune diseases.
The Industrial Revolution, Political Transition, and the Subsequent Decline in Inequality in 19th-Century Britain

Abstract Democratization was a key mediating factor linking Britain's first industrial revolution to subsequent reductions in income inequality. Accelerated economic growth, generating a wider distribution of discretionary resources, created incentives for repeated expansions of the franchise, which then led to a progressive shift in legislation. After the Second and Third Reform Acts, income inequality was reduced by successive acts of legislation which provided free public education; strengthened the legal standing of the trade unions; aided the aged, the sick, and the unemployed without abridging their political rights; and replaced regressive indirect taxes with progressive taxes on income, land, and inherited wealth.
Management practices and forage quality affecting the contamination of milk with anaerobic spore-forming bacteria.

BACKGROUND Anaerobic spore-forming bacteria (ASFB) in milk derive from the farm environment, and the use of silages and management practices are the main responsible of milk ASFB contamination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between feeding, milking routine and cow hygiene and milk and Grana Padano cheese (produced with and without lysozyme) ASFB contamination. RESULTS The study involved 23 dairy farms. ASFB in corn silage were on average 2.34 ± 0.87 log10 MPN g(-1). For grass, Italian ryegrass and alfalfa, ASFB (log10 MPN g(-1)) were numerically higher for silages (3.22) than hays (2.85). The use of corn silages of high quality (high lactic and acetic acids concentrations) decreased the milk ASFB contamination, whilst the use of herbage silages did not affect it. The presence (>40%) of cows with dirty udders increased the ASFB contamination of milk, while forestripping had a positive effect (-9% ASFB). Ripened Grana Padano had an ASFB count below the analytical limit; Clostridium tyrobutyricum DNA was found only in wheels produced without lysozyme, which also showed late blowing. CONCLUSION The factors increasing milk spore contamination were corn silage quality, cow udder hygiene and inadequate milking routine. Late blowing was present only in cheeses without lysozyme.
Intra-Party Democracy and Party Responsiveness

This study examines whether parties respond to their supporters or to the median voter position. Party leaders require the support of the ‘selectorate’, which is defined as the group that has influence in party leadership selection. Inclusive parties, which rely on rank-and-file membership to select their leaders, will respond to their members. Exclusive parties, which rely on office-seeking members for leadership selection, will respond to the median voter position. Thus, intra-party institutions that (dis)enfranchise party members are crucial for understanding whether a party responds to their supporters (or to the median voter position). Using data from 1975–2003 for six West European countries, this article reports findings that inclusive parties respond to the mean party supporter position. While there is evidence that exclusive parties respond to the median voter position in two-party systems, this finding does not extend to multiparty systems. This study has implications for the understanding of intra-party institutions and political representation.
Hopes and Fears: The New World Trade Negotiations and Southern Agriculture

Abstract Understanding the impacts of the Uruguay Round (UR) Agreement on southern commodities serves as a starting point to assess the potential impacts of the next global trade negotiations in terms of hope (expanding export markets) and fear (new competition). Key issues examined include whether or not the UR Agreement resulted in new markets or new competition for key southern commodities—cotton, poultry, tobacco, and rice. For new markets, export data were analyzed to determine if exports increased since the passage of the UR Agreement in 1994. Also, countries that are leading world importers of these southern commodities were identified and data analyzed to determine whether the U.S. is exporting to these top markets. Alternatively, to assess whether the UR Agreement resulted in new competition for southern commodities, countries that are leading world exporters were identified and data analyzed to determine whether the U.S. is among them. Data analyses was supplemented with interviews of southern commodities experts who assess impacts of the GATT-UR and identify issues for the next round of global trade negotiations.
The liberalization and reregulation of air transport

We seek to explain the transfer of competence to govern, from national to supranational authorities, in air transport. We ask two questions. First, how and why did air transport come on to the European legislative agenda? Second, why did member state governments agree to divest themselves of control at the national level? In responding to these questions, we at times focus on the Council of Ministers, and therefore on intergovernmental stages of the legislative process. Such a focus, however, need not entail adopting intergovernmentalist theories of integration. On the contrary, our case study broadly supports theoretical arguments developed by Stone Sweet and Sandholtz (1997), and corroborates recent research on the origins and evolution of supranational governance. We find that the intensity of transnational exchange and the pro-integrative behaviour of the European Community's (EC's) supranational organizations not only generated the context in which intergovernmental bargaining took place, but provoke.
Industry and Size as Debt Ratio Determinants in Manufacturing Internationally

Dr. Remmers is Professor at INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France) and is responsible for the French analysis in the article. Dr. Stonehill is Professor of Finance at Oregon State University (Corvallis, Oregon). Some of the data were gathered during 1972-73 while he was a Visiting Courtesy Professor at the North European Management Institute (Oslo, Norway). He is responsible for the Norwegian and American analyses. Dr. Wright is Associate Professor at McGill University (Montreal, Canada). All of the Japanese data were gathered during 1972-73 while he was a Visiting Professor at the Institute for International Studies and Training (Japan) and a guest at Nomura Research Institute (Tokyo, Japan). Dr. Beekhuisen is a Visiting Professor at INSEAD. Some of the Dutch data were gathered during 1972-73 while he was a Professor at the Netherlands School of Business (Breukelen, The Netherlands).
Demand for money in Thailand

After a brief review of recent literature, new estimates on a long run of annual observations of the Thai demand for all the standard measures of money are presented. The results demonstrate that the demand for real money balances is a stable function of a scale variable and a coherent measure of opportunity cost, with all the properties predicted by economic theory.
Analysis of Chinese Manufacturing Export Duration

This paper studies the duration of Chinese manufacturing exports and its determinants,using disaggregated 6-digit level Harmonized System product trade data from 1995 to 2007.Cox proportional hazard,Weibull and exponential models are used to examine the effects of various factors on export duration.It is revealed that export duration tends to be rather short-lived.It is also found that GDP and GDP per capita of the export destination have positive effects on export duration,while trade relationships with distant and landlocked countries are generally of shorter duration.In addition,export duration is longer for differentiated and parts and components products,as well as products with large initial trade values.WTO membership is also important for longer export duration.Our empirical analysis suggests that developed markets,such as the USA and the EU,are important to China,and should still be the major sources for Chinese export growth in the long run.Moreover,technical innovation of firms and free trade agreement negotiations will be helpful for sustainable export growth.
Structural Change in Advanced Nations: A New Set of Stylised Facts

We provide new evidence on patterns of structural change in advanced economies, reconsidering the stylised facts put forward by Kaldor (1963), Kuznets (1971), and Maddison (1980). Since 1980, the services sector has overwhelmingly predominated in the economic activity of the European Union, Japan, and the US, but there is substantial heterogeneity among services. Personal, finance, and business services have low productivity growth and increasing shares in employment and GDP. By contrast, shares of distribution services are constant, and productivity growth is rapid. We find that the labour share in value-added is declining, while the use of ICT capital and skilled labour is increasing in all sectors and regions.
The Impact of Institutional Forces Upon Knowledge Sharing in the UK NHS: The Triumph of Professional Power and the Inconsistency of Policy

Academics, policy-makers and practitioners are increasingly interested in the contribution that effective management of knowledge across organizational and professional boundaries can make to improved public services. Examining knowledge sharing within the context of the UK NHS, we ground our investigation in neo-institutional organizational sociology. We highlight the influence of regulatory, normative and cultural-cognitive aspects of institutions operating in the health care field on the boundaries that impede knowledge sharing. We illustrate how institutional isomorphic processes facilitate convergence within groups of organizations and occupations subject to the same institutional pressures, but, by the same token, inhibit convergence across different organizational and occupational groupings. In short, the development of a learning organization, where knowledge is shared freely across boundaries, will be difficult to realize.
Do donor cells function as veto cells in the induction and maintenance of tolerance across an MHC disparity in mixed lymphoid radiation chimeras?

Mixed lymphoid chimeras can be established across H-2b-->H-2d by injection of C57BL/6J (B-6) donor bone marrow cells into BALB/c hosts conditioned by sublethal irradiation, 235 cGy x3. These chimeras are specifically tolerant to both donor and host alloantigens. Tolerance cannot be broken even by injection of 4 x 10(8) normal BALB/c spleen cells (SC), suggesting a suppressor mechanism. In contrast to conventional suppression, however, in which suppressors are syngeneic to the cells they suppress, tolerance can be transferred only by cells of the allogeneic donor allotype (1,2). Thy 1+ cell depletion eliminates the capacity of the donor population to transfer tolerance and markedly reduces the capacity of B-6 BMC to induce tolerance (3). In the present studies spleen cells from tolerant chimeras (CSC), when coinjected in a 1:1 ratio, reduced the high GVHD mortality induced in irradiated H-2d/b F1 hybrids by injection of 2 x 10(7) normal BALB/c SC alone (P < .01). When coinjected at a 5:1 ratio CSC eliminated the GVHD mortality and weight loss induced by 5 x 10(6) BALB/c SC (P < .01). Depletion of B-6 cells from CSC removed their capacity to inhibit the GVHD induced by normal BALB/c SC. In contrast to conventional suppression, which requires the continued presence of suppressor cells, the BALB/c cells isolated from CSC, although unable to inhibit the GVHD of normal BALB/c SC, remained nonreactive against the H-2b allotype for a prolonged period following depletion of the B-6 cells. This prolonged response reduction dependent upon some interaction with allogeneic donor cells--which, in turn, are specifically nonreactive to host antigens--is compatible with a veto mechanism.
The influence of growth hormone on cancellous and cortical bone of the vertebral body in aged rats

The influence of growth hormone administration on cancellous and cortical bone of the vertebral body in 2‐year‐old male rats has been investigated. All rats were injected for 80 days, then killed. Controls were given saline, and three recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) injected groups were given either rhGH (2.7 mg/kg/day) for the first 20 or 40 days, followed by saline injection, or rhGH for all 80 days. Tetracycline labeling was performed on days 41 and 69. In all groups given rhGH, an increase in the cortical bone volume was found. In the rhGH 40‐day group, single labeling corresponding to injection on day 41 was seen all around the anterior surface of the vertebral body wall (toward the abdominal cavity). In the rhGH 80‐day group, double labeling was seen all around the anterior surface of the vertebral body, and a substantial increase in the mineralizing surface/total surface, mineral apposition rate, and mineralized bone formation rate was found. In the cortical bone of the anterior wall, cavities had developed in the rhGH 40‐ and 80‐day groups. In the cancellous bone, no differences in bone volume, bone volume/total volume, or bone surface/bone volume were seen, but in the middle part of the vertebral body a decrease in the mineralizing surface/total surface was found in the rhGH 80‐day group. The height of the vertebral body was not influenced by rhGH administration, whereas the transversal and midsaggital diameters were increased in the rhGH 80‐day group. The compressive mechanical strength of the vertebral body specimens was increased in the rhGH 80‐day group, and this increase most likely could be explained by formation and deposition of cortical bone.
Exploring the Implications of Virtual Reality Technology in Tourism Marketing: An Integrated Research Framework

The proliferation of the Internet and other technological innovations has transformed the structure of the tourism industry as well as affected how tourism destinations are perceived and consumed. The 3D virtual world provides opportunities for destination marketing organizations to communicate with targeted markets by offering a rich environment for potential visitors to explore tourism destinations. However, as of yet, there is little understanding about how to effectively market tourism destinations to virtual world participants who are technology users as well as potential consumers. The purpose of the present study is to develop a research framework that integrates the technology acceptance model (TAM) and self-determination theory to understand how tourists use a 3D virtual world. Primary data were obtained for this study through self-administered Web questionnaires. The data were conducted in a laboratory setting with 186 participants. This study contributes to the empirical TAM literature by applying the model to a 3D virtual tourism site. Additionally, this study provides a research framework to capture the entertainment nature of a 3D virtual world by extending the TAM to incorporate psychological elements of self-determination theory to understand consumer experience. From the perspective of tourism professionals, this study contributes to an understanding of how best to construct informative and interactive tourist destinations in 3D virtual worlds to attract potential online and real-world tourists. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The South African yield curve as a predictor of economic downturns: an update

This study re-examines the yield curve’s forecasting abilities in South Africa and investigates its ability to predict the most recent economic downturn of 2007/09. The study builds on the earlier work of Nel (1996) and Aziakpono and Khomo (2007) who found that the yield curve does accurately forecast downswings in the South African economy. It confirms Aziakpono and Khomo’s finding that the yield curve falsely predicted a downswing in 2002/03, but provides evidence that the yield curve has not lost its predictive powers in the most recent downturn of 2007/09. The simple and modified probit models are used to examine the yield curve’s ability to forecast economic downturns. This is compared to the forecasting abilities of the JSE All Share Index, the SA Reserve Bank’s leading economic indicator and M3 money supply. The yield spread was better able to predict all the downturns since 1980 than any of the other variables. The best forecast is found to be 2 quarters ahead. This indicates that the yield spread is still a powerful forecasting tool for predicting economic downturns in South Africa.
Calibration strategies of stochastic volatility models for option pricing

This study examines how calibrated stochastic volatility models maintain their option pricing performance over subsequent days. Specifically, using a number of sets of single and multi-day data, different loss functions, and regularization techniques, we examine the dynamics of the pricing errors of two well-recognized stochastic volatility models. We find that, depending on the loss function, the use of multi-day data in calibration can slow down the increase in the pricing error for long-maturity options. On the other hand, the calibration with 1 day of data tends to give the smallest in-sample error diminishing the benefit of larger multi-day datasets. Differences between different sizes of datasets are more noticeable with the discrete-time volatility model than a continuous time one but in both cases 1 day of data would be the optimal choice and in most cases daily calibration is needed.
The cooperation between the autophagy machinery and the inflammasome to implement an appropriate innate immune response: do they regulate each other?

Autophagy is originally described as the main catabolic pathway responsible for maintaining intracellular nutritional homeostasis that involves the formation of a unique vacuole, the autophagosome, and the interaction with the endosome‐lysosome pathways. This conserved machinery plays a key role in immune‐protection against different invaders, including pathogenic bacteria, intracellular parasites, and some viruses like herpes simplex and hepatitis C virus. Importantly, autophagy is linked to a number of human diseases and disorders including neurodegenerative disease, Crohn's disease, type II diabetes, tumorigenesis, cardiomyopathy, and fatty liver disease. On the other hand, inflammasomes are multiprotein platforms stimulated upon several environmental conditions and microbial infection. Once assembled, the inflammasomes mediate the maturation of pro‐inflammatory cytokines and promote phagosome‐lysosome fusion to sustain an innate immune response. The intersections between autophagy and inflammasome have been observed in various diseases and microbial infections. This review highlights the molecular aspects involved in autophagy and inflammasome interactions during different medical conditions and microbial infections.
Host genes controlling the susceptibility and resistance to squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue in a rat model

Development of tongue carcinoma (TC) in rats by 4‐nitroquinoline 1‐oxide (4NQO), a potent carcinogen, is under host genetic control. The inbred Dark‐Agouti (DA) strain rats showed a much higher susceptibility to TC than the Wistar–Furth (WF) strain. The author’s previous study on crosses between two strains postulated a susceptibility gene in DA and a resistance gene in WF rats. This hypothesis was confirmed by the genetic analysis of the backcrosses to either parent and F2 with a simple sequence repeat polymorphism analysis. In the crosses between the DA and WF strains of rats, two major independently segregating host loci that influenced the cancer development by application of 4NQO positively or negatively were identified and mapped. DA rats had a semidominant susceptibility gene, Stc1, closely linked with D19Mit9 on chromosome 19, which was on the segment syntenic to human chromosome 16. In contrast, WF rats had a semidominant resistance gene, Rtc1, closely linked with D1Rat320 on chromosome 1, which is syntenic to human chromosome 11. The presence of other susceptibility and resistance genes on some chromosomes of both DA and WF rats was suspected, and they will be clarified in the near future. These findings provide powerful evidence that chemically induced tongue carcinogenesis is a multigenetic event.
Policy Punctuations in Danish Local Budgeting

The central prediction in Baumgartner and Jones’ (1993) punctuated equilibrium theory is that over time, public policy will be characterized by a certain pattern of stability now and then interrupted by punctuations. This paper extends the study of punctuated equilibrium theory in two ways. First, I examine whether this prediction is met in a non-US-based political system like Danish local government. Second, I conduct a comparative investigation of stability and punctuations in four public policy areas chosen for theoretical purposes. Using a stochastic process approach, my findings are that the annual local budget changes, as expected from the punctuated equilibrium theory, are characterized by a certain pattern of stability and punctuations. Equally interesting, however, is the fact that the analysis also reveals some systematic underlying variation, enhancing our understanding of just where budget punctuations are particularly likely to occur, something former studies on punctuated equilibrium theory have not elucidated.
Agroecological alternatives: Capitalising on existing genetic potentials

Abstract Contemporary debates on whether or not transgenic innovations will be beneficial for the poor should consider also whether other methods could achieve the same objectives. This article discusses agroecological approaches, and specifically the system of rice intensification (SRI), which is showing that it can meet food production needs of the poor relatively quickly, simply, cost-effectively and in an environmentally-benign manner. SRI is raising yields 30–100 per cent without requiring new seeds, chemical fertilisers or agrochemicals, while using less water. Agroecological approaches are meant to obtain maximum performance from the genetic potential of agricultural plants; there is no contradiction in combining agro-ecological and biotechnological approaches to improve performance in the field. This article does not propose that agroecological approaches should substitute for transgenic methods, but does suggest that opportunities in the agroecological domain are probably being overlooked in the current preoccupation with genocentric strategies.