Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Vivo Expansion of Regulatory T Cells by Low-Dose Interleukin-2 Treatment Increases Allograft Survival in Corneal Transplantation

Background Corneal allograft survival dramatically decreases in hosts with inflamed or vascularized recipient beds. We have previously shown that in rejected corneal allografts regulatory T cells (Treg) demonstrate diminished Foxp3 expression and immunoregulatory function. Treatment with low doses of IL-2 selectively expands Treg and has been proposed for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In this study, we investigated the effect of low-dose IL-2 administration on Treg function and corneal allograft survival. Methods Allogeneic corneal transplantation was performed on inflamed host beds. Low-dose systemic IL-2 was administered starting 3 days before grafting until 6 weeks after transplantation. Frequencies of Treg and their immunosuppressive function and antigen specificity were assessed using flow cytometry, in vitro proliferation assays, and adoptive transfer experiments. Frequencies of effector T cells (Teff) and graft infiltrating immune cells were measured at 2 weeks posttransplantation. Long-term allograft survival was evaluated for up to 9 weeks using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results Treatment with low-dose IL-2 significantly increased frequencies of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg and their immunosuppressive function. It also suppressed alloimmune response as shown by the decreased CD4+ IFN&ggr;+ T cell frequencies and graft infiltration of CD45+ and CD4+ cells. Clinical evaluation of the grafts showed significant improvement in long-term corneal allograft survival in the IL-2 treated group compared with controls. Conclusions Our study is the first to report that treatment with low-dose IL-2 increases survival of corneal allografts. We propose that IL-2-mediated Treg expansion can be an effective tool to prevent alloimmunity and to improve long-term allograft survival in transplantation.
Leader development: an identity-based perspective

Leadership training and development can substantially improve managers’ ability to lead effectively. Unfortunately, our knowledge of why and when this effect holds is relatively sparse. Here, we introduce leader identity as an important mechanism explaining why reactions to leadership training associate with leader effectiveness. We argue that this relationship should be especially pronounced among leaders with little leadership experience. We test our hypotheses using a sample of German managers (N = 196) and find that leader identity indeed mediates the relationship between reactions to leadership training and leader effectiveness. We also find this mediation to be conditional upon leadership experience, such that the indirect effect only holds for less, but not for more, experienced leaders. We discuss implications for the theory and practice of leadership development.
Fractures in Patients With Cerebral Palsy

Fractures in children with cerebral palsy (CP) constitute a common clinical problem. The purpose of this retrospective study is to analyze the demographics, identify risk factors, and delineate guidelines for treatment in 156 children with CP who were treated for fractures. To identify changes in demographics, children treated before 1992 (56 patients) were compared with those treated from 1992 to 2000. The latter group of children was compared with an age- and gender-matched group of CP children without fractures. Ambulatory status, the presence of contractures, nutritional status, seizure medication, the type of treatment received, final outcomes, and complications were recorded and statistically analyzed. The mean age at the time of the first fracture was 10 years. Sixty-six percent of patients had spastic quadriplegia, of whom 83% were nonambulatory. Eighty-two percent of fractures occurred in the lower limbs. Forty-eight percent were delayed in diagnosis with no cause determined. Children treated after 1992 had higher incidence of multiple fractures, lower incidence contractures, and a younger age at first fracture. This group showed a statistically significant difference for anticonvulsant therapy (P = 0.001), CP pattern (P = 0.005), ambulatory status (P = 0.001), and osteopenia (P = 0.001) when compared with the group of CP patients without fractures. Eighty percent of fractures were treated with a soft bulky dressing. Complications occurred in 17% of patients. The greatest risk factor for fracture is the nonambulatory CP child on anticonvulsant therapy. These risk factors seem to have increased, resulting in a higher prevalence of low energy fractures. Future research must focus on the underlying mechanisms and prevention of this condition.
Application of Percoll density gradient centrifugation for separation of Babesia ovata-infected erythrocytes

In this study, potential of the Percoll density gradient centrifugation method for separation of bovine red bold cells (RBCs) infected with each merozoite type of Babesia ovata was examined. By the Percoll density gradient centrifugation, bovine RBCs infected with active forms of B. ovata merozoites were essentially collected from one of the layers. Moreover, this method made it possible to eliminate its crisis forms, a morphologically abnormal intraerythrocytic form, effectively. Moreover, no adverse effect on viability of B. ovata merozoites was found. Our results suggest that this method will be applicable to sample preparation for biological analyses which require active forms of B. ovata merozoites.
Polysaccharides for Colon Targeted Drug Delivery

Colon targeted drug delivery has the potential to deliver bioactive agents for the treatment of a variety of colonic diseases and to deliver proteins and peptides to the colon for their systemic absorption. Various strategies, currently available to target the release of drugs to colon, include formation of prodrug, coating of pH-sensitive polymers, use of colon-specific biodegradable polymers, timed released systems, osmotic systems, and pressure controlled drug delivery systems. Among the different approaches to achieve targeted drug release to the colon, the use of polymers especially biodegradable by colonic bacteria holds great promise. Polysaccharidases are bacterial enzymes that are available in sufficient quantity to be exploited in colon targeting of drugs. Based on this approach, various polysaccharides have been investigated for colon-specific drug release. These polysaccharides include pectin, guar gum, amylose, inulin, dextran, chitosan, and chondroitin sulphate. This family of natural polymers has an appeal to drug delivery as it is comprised of polymers with a large number of derivatizable groups, a wide range of molecular weights, varying chemical compositions, and, for the most part, low toxicity and biodegradability yet high stability. The most favorable property of these materials is their approval as pharmaceutical excipients.
Policy Mix and the US Trade Balance

The strong US policy response to the 2008-09 financial crisis raised concerns about its impact (spillovers) on other countries, with great focus on the monetary stimulus but little attention to fiscal policy, despite their combined deployment. Using a sign-restricted structural VAR approach, we study the trade spillovers of the post-crisis policy mix, by assessing the joint impact of monetary and fiscal policy. We find that aggregate trade effects, as reflected in the trade balance, varied across time, reflecting the different timing of fiscal and monetary stimuli, with overall positive spillovers in the immediate aftermath of the crisis. At the same time, reflecting the different transmission mechanisms of monetary policy, we find that the effects differed greatly between trading partners with fixed and flexible exchange rates. In general, our results highlight (i) the importance of studying fiscal and monetary policy spillovers jointly in order to avoid attenuation bias from omitted variables; and (ii) that trading partners’ exchange rate regimes are of first order importance in determining the impact of policy spillovers.
Frequency of provider contact after FDA advisory on risk of pediatric suicidality with SSRIs.

OBJECTIVE The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public health advisory in October 2003 on the risk of suicide in pediatric patients taking antidepressants and advised maintaining "close supervision" of such patients. In this study, the authors compared trends in the frequency of provider contacts for patients with depression before and after the advisory was issued. METHOD Retrospective cohorts of children (N=27,370) and adults (N=193,151) with new episodes of depression treated with antidepressants were created from a national claims database of managed care plans (1998-2005). Two standards were used in measuring patient monitoring: the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality-of-care criterion calling for three contacts in 3 months and the FDA-recommended contact schedule totaling seven visits in 3 months. Time-series models compared postadvisory trends to the expected trend based on preadvisory measures. RESULTS Less than 5% of all patients met FDA contact recommendations before the advisory, and the rate did not change after the advisory. A greater proportion of patients met the HEDIS contact criterion before the advisory (60% for children and 40% for adults), and the rate did not change after the advisory. A greater proportion of pediatric patients seen by a psychiatrist (80%) met the HEDIS criterion than those seen by a pediatrician (60%) or a non-pediatrician primary care physician (54%), and than adults seen by a psychiatrist (65%) or a primary care physician (37%). The proportions of pediatric patients who met the FDA recommendations did not differ by specialty. CONCLUSIONS Contrary to expectations, the frequency of visits by patients with new episodes of depression treated with antidepressants did not increase after the October 2003 FDA advisory was issued.
Trust and consumer risk perceptions regarding BSE and chronic wasting disease

Using survey data from Canada, the United States, and Japan, we assess the relationship between both generalized trust in people and agent-specific trust regarding food safety and consumer perceptions about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and chronic wasting disease (CWD). We find evidence that generalized trust in people is negatively related to consumers’ risk perceptions about BSE and CWD mainly in Canada. Trust measures for specific agents who might affect food safety risk also have mixed effects on consumers’ risk perceptions across the regions surveyed and between the two diseases. Monitoring public’s generalized trust in people and trust in food agents could generally assist in the short-term estimates of the impact of future animal disease incidents on consumption of meat products. [EconLit citation: D120, Q130, I190].
Servicification of Investment and Structural Transformation: The Case of China

Structural transformation is a key feature of economic development. Traditional literature attributes it to changes in the sectoral composition of consumption. Different from it, we argue that the "servici fication" of investment goods, which is induced by investment-specific technological change, becomes an increasingly important reason for structural transformation, particularly for the rise of the services economy. Our study of the input output tables finds that the share of service inputs in investment goods have grown significantly in many countries since the 1980s, especially for investment-intensive economies such as China. To assess if the investment channel is quantitatively significant, we build a standard model with three broad sectors, but instead add an investment production function employing factors from all three sectors. Moreover, we incorporate investment-specific technological change by allowing the productivities of the three sectoral inputs to evolve over time. We calibrate the model to the Chinese economy from 1981-2014 and perform counter-factual experiments accordingly. We find that the technological change in the investment sector accounts for 33.1 percent decline in employment share of agriculture, 36.0 percent increase in employment share of manufacturing and 31.5 percent increase in employment share of services over the period. The magnitude of this effect on the share of services keeps growing, particularly after 2000. Our findings are not unique for China, but also apply to other economies experiencing "servici fication" of investment sector.
Differential cortical responses in second language learners to different vowel contrasts

Near-infrared spectroscopy was used to measure hemodynamic responses in Korean subjects learning Japanese as a second-language to Japanese phonemic contrasts that are either phonologically distinctive or non-distinctive in their first-language. These results were compared with those of Japanese native listeners reported previously. Unlike the results observed in the Japanese subjects, the Korean subjects did not show category-specific neural responses to a durational contrast that is non-distinctive in their first-language. The /a-e/ contrast elicited the larger response in the left auditory area, consistent with the results of the Japanese. These phoneme-dependent responses imply that the neuronal networks subserving the first and second-languages are either shared or exclusive according to the mutual relationship between the phonemic properties of the first and second-languages.
Cigarette Smoke Extract Inhibits Expression of Peroxiredoxin V and Increases Airway Epithelial Permeability

Inhaled cigarette smoke induces oxidative stress in the epithelium of airways. Peroxiredoxin V (PRXV) is a potent antioxidant protein, highly expressed in cells of the airway epithelium. The goal of our study was to determine whether cigarette smoke extract (CSE) influenced expression of this protein in airway epithelia in vivo and in vitro. In Sprague-Dawley rats, we determined effects of CSE on airway epithelial permeability, mRNA levels and expression of PRXV protein. Exposure of isolated tracheal segment in vitro to 20% CSE for 4 h resulted in development of increased permeability to albumin, significantly reduced mRNA levels for PRXV, and reduced amounts of PRXV protein in the epithelium. In cultures of the airway epithelial cell lines (Calu-3, JME), primary airway cell culture (cow), and alveolar epithelial cells A549, CSE also significantly decreased transepithelial electrical resistance and expression of PRXV protein, and induced glutathione and protein oxidation. To demonstrate functional importance of PRXV, we exposed clones of HeLa cells with siRNA-downregulated PRXV to hydrogen peroxide, which resulted in increased rate of cell death and protein oxidation. CSE directly downregulates expression of functionally important antioxidant enzyme PRXV in the epithelial cells of airways, which represents one pathophysiological mechanism of cigarette smoke toxicity.
Neurologic dysfunction in hypothyroid, hyperlipidemic Labrador Retrievers.

BACKGROUND Hypothyroidism has been associated with a variety of neurologic signs, but the mechanism for this association is not completely understood. Hypothyroidism also is associated with hyperlipidemia that predisposes to atherosclerosis, increased blood viscosity, and thromboembolic events. OBJECTIVE The objective is to characterize neurologic signs potentially associated with hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis in canine hypothyroidism. ANIMALS This study used dogs referred to North Carolina State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for evaluation of neurologic signs. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective study was conducted in which medical records of dogs with neurologic signs and a diagnosis of hypothyroidism and hyperlipidemia were reviewed. Details of the history, presenting signs, results of routine blood tests, thyroid tests, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and diagnostic imaging, and response to therapy were compiled. RESULTS Three Labrador Retrievers and one Labrador Retriever cross fit the inclusion criteria. All dogs were hypothyroid and severely hyperlipidemic. Neurologic signs included tetraparesis, central and peripheral vestibular signs, facial paralysis, and paraparesis. Two dogs had an acute history and rapid resolution of signs consistent with an infarct, the presence of which was confirmed in 1 of the dogs by magnetic resonance imaging. Two dogs had chronic histories of cranial neuropathies and paraparesis. One of these dogs had evidence of iliac thrombosis and atherosclerosis on ultrasound examination. All dogs improved with thyroid hormone supplementation. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Labrador Retrievers may be predisposed to the development of severe hyperlipidemia in association with hypothyroidism. One possible consequence of severe hyperlipidemia is the development of neurologic signs due to atherosclerosis and thromboembolic events.
Y-box Binding Protein 1 Is Involved in Regulating the G2/M Phase of the Cell Cycle.

BACKGROUND/AIM The transcription factor Y-box-binding protein 1 (YB1) is overexpressed in many types of human cancers. YB1 regulates the G1 phase of the cell cycle by controlling transcription of G1 regulators. Here, we report that YB1 is also involved in regulating G2/M phase. MATERIALS AND METHODS YB1-depleted TKO cells were subjected to quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and cell-cycle analysis. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP)-chip assay was performed using anti-YB1 antibodies. Precipitated RNAs were subjected to microarray analysis. RESULTS Silencing YB1 inhibited the proliferation of TKO cells, which lost the machinery required for G1 phase arrest. Cell-cycle analysis showed that silencing YB1 caused G2/M phase cell-cycle arrest. RIP-chip assay showed that YB1 associated with mRNA of multiple cell-cycle-related genes, including G2/M phase regulators. CONCLUSION YB1 positively regulates not only the G1 phase but also G2/M phase by regulating multiple cell-cycle-related genes.
Modern Growth in Perspective: Relative Performance Since the Global Financial Crisis

This paper evaluates the growth performance of more than 200 economies. It identifies instances of relatively strong economic performance after the 2008-09 global financial crisis, and asks if determinants of sustained strong (and weak) performance have changed in recent years. It finds that investment matters more for growth post-crisis; that the negative impact of debt-based financial development predates the crisis; and that economic openness and democracy now play a greater role in ensuring “average” growth outcomes.
Nematode population densities and yield of sweet potato and onion as affected by nematicides and time of application.

Nematode population densities and yield of sweet potato and onion as affected by nematicides and time of application were determined in a 3-year test. Population densities of Meloidogyne incognita race 1 in untreated plots of sweet potato increased each year, but Helicotylenchus dihystera and Criconemella ornata did not. Ethoprop (6.8 kg a.i./ha) incorporated broadcast in the top 15-cm soil layer each spring before planting sweet potato reduced population densities of nematodes in the soil and increased marketable yield in 1982, but not in 1983 and 1984. When DD, fenamiphos, and aldicarb were applied just before planting either sweet potato or onion, nematode population densities at harvest were lower in treated than in untreated plots. No additional benefits resulted when the nematicides were applied immediately before planting both sweet potato and onion. Correlation coefficients (P </= 0.05) between yield of marketable and cracked sweet potato storage roots vs. densities of M. incognita juveniles in the soil at harvest among years ranged from r = -0.33 to r = -0.54 and r = 0.31 to r = 0.54 (P </= 0.05), respectively. Temperatures of -6 to -8 C in December 1981 and - 11 to - 13 C in December 1983 killed the onion crops. Correlation coefficients for marketable yield of onion seeded in 1982 and harvested in 1983 vs. densities of M. incognita juveniles and H. dihystera in the soil at harvest were r = -0.42 and r = -0.31 (P </= 0.05), respectively.
Implicit Measure of Life/Death Orientation Predicts Response of Suicidal Ideation to Treatment in Psychiatric Inpatients

In this study, we set out to extend empirical research on the Life-Death Implicit Association Test (IAT) by administering the measure to an adult psychiatric inpatient population with suicidal ideation. We sought to examine its association with other suicide-relevant measures and to determine whether it adds predictive utility beyond that offered by other measures of suicide risk. The IAT was administered (N = 124) at biweekly intervals as part of an assessment battery at an inpatient facility for complex, treatment resistant psychiatric disorders (average length of stay: approximately 6 weeks). Multiple regression procedures were utilized to examine relationships among the measures and their predictive utility with respect to suicidal ideation at discharge. Consistent with prior research with other populations, significant associations were found between IAT performance and explicit (self-report and interview) measures of suicide risk. Moreover, the IAT was found to predict suicidal ideation at discharge above and beyond number of prior suicide attempts and admission scores on measures of depression, suicidal ideation, and hopelessness. Change in IAT performance over the course of treatment was observed. The IAT shows promise as an addition to explicit measures conventionally used to estimate suicide risk in psychiatric patients. These findings are consistent with a cognitive vulnerability model of suicide risk.
Perceptions of communication before and after a speech pathology intervention for an adult with intellectual disability

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to explore, from the perspective of key communication partners, the meaning of a communication intervention and associated changes for an adult with severe intellectual disability (ID). Method The parents and key support workers of Mark, a 22‐year‐old man with ID and complex communication needs, were interviewed. The interviews were conducted prior to and following a speech pathology intervention and were guided by a communication inventory based on the concept of social networks. Interview transcripts were analysed qualitatively, with a focus on the subjective meaning of communication changes. These changes were explored according to both the specific information sought through the inventory and additional information provided. Results The findings were organised into three key themes relating to Mark, his familiar communication partners (i.e., parents and disability support workers), and the community. Information obtained from the interviews indicated that Mark's reported communication level remained stable across the intervention. However, an in‐depth analysis of the interview transcripts revealed some gains in his communication skills. From the perspective of Mark's familiar communication partners, key sub‐themes emerged which were related to changes in ascription of responsibility for developing skills and strategies to enhance Mark's communication. Furthermore, greater participation by Mark in his home community was evident. Conclusions The findings are discussed in terms of the assessment of an individual's communication through interactions with communication partners, and how changes associated with an intervention can be best understood from analysis of rich data.