Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a wearable bioartificial kidney using the Bioartificial Renal Epithelial Cell System (BRECS)

Cell therapy for the treatment of renal failure in the acute setting has proved successful, with therapeutic impact, yet development of a sustainable, portable bioartificial kidney for treatment of chronic renal failure has yet to be realized. Challenges in maintaining an anticoagulated blood circuit, the typical platform for solute clearance and support of the biological components, have posed a major hurdle in advancement of this technology. This group has developed a Bioartificial Renal Epithelial Cell System (BRECS) capable of differentiated renal cell function while sustained by body fluids other than blood. To evaluate this device for potential use in end‐stage renal disease, a large animal model was established that exploits peritoneal dialysis fluid for support of the biological device and delivery of cell therapy while providing uraemic control. Anephric sheep received a continuous flow peritoneal dialysis (CFPD) circuit that included a BRECS. Sheep were treated with BRECS containing 1 × 108 renal epithelial cells or acellular sham devices for up to 7 days. The BRECS cell viability and activity were maintained with extracorporeal peritoneal fluid circulation. A systemic immunological effect of BRECS therapy was observed as cell‐treated sheep retained neutrophil oxidative activity better than sham‐treated animals. This model demonstrates that use of the BRECS within a CFPD circuit embodies a feasible approach to a sustainable and effective wearable bioartificial kidney. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bank risk and performance in Ghana

This paper examines the effect of risk on bank performance in Ghana. A panel data analysis of 18 banks over the period 1997-2008 is used in the study. The results show that lower risk levels lead to an increase in bank performance. In addition, the results show that when ownership interacts with risk, domestic banks that reduce risk are more likely to perform better than foreign banks with similar risk profiles. We also find that when size interacts with risk, bigger banks which engage in lower risk taking have lower performance. Relative to smaller banks, larger banks could increase activities aggressively and accommodate more risk leading to higher performance. Our results generally call for prudence in bank risk management by risk managers and central bankers alike.
Economic Effects and Structural Determinants of Capital Controls

The effects and determinants of capital controls are studied using panel data for 61 countries. Capital controls are more likely in countries with lower income, a large government, and a central bank with limited independence. Other determinants of controls include the exchange rate regime, current account imbalances, and the degree of openness of the economy. Capital controls are found to be associated with higher inflation and lower real interest rates. No robust correlation is found between our measures of controls and economic growth, although there is evidence that countries with large black market premiums on foreign exchange grow more slowly.
Truncating mutations in LRP4 lead to a prenatal lethal form of Cenani–Lenz syndrome

Cenani–Lenz syndrome (CLS) is an autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasia that results in malformations of the distal limb, renal anomalies, and characteristic facies. In 2010, this condition was found to be caused by mutations in LRP4, a member of the low‐density lipoprotein family of receptors. LRP4 has been shown to antagonize LRP5/LRP6 activation of WNT and β‐catenin signaling. Loss of LRP4 function leads to excessive Wnt and β‐catenin signaling in the limb bud, which causes abnormal limb development. The large majority of patients with CLS reported in the literature have splicing and missense mutations, which result in syndactyly, oligodactyly, and minor renal malformations. More recently, a patient with CLS has been identified with a homozygous nonsense mutation and a more severe presentation of findings typically associated with this condition. Here we present two sibling fetuses with a prenatal lethal presentation of mesomelic limb reductions, oligosyndactyly, genitourinary malformation and compound heterozygosity for two novel truncating mutations in LRP4. These findings lend further support to the CLS genotype‐phenotype correlation presented in recent publications. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Keeping the Schools Open While the Troops are Away: Regime Type, Interstate War and Government Spending

How and why do regime type and interstate war affect government spending? We argue that a political leader allocates scarce resources between social and military expenditures as a function of their relative efficiency in securing her political survival. We derive four hypotheses concerning how mobilization for and demobilization from interstate war affects government spending differently in democratic and autocratic regimes. Compared to democracies, autocracies should increase military spending to a greater degree during wartime and decrease military spending to a greater extent following a war. Autocracies also should cut social spending more during an interstate war and increase social spending more during the process of demobilization from war than democracies. Our analyses of all states in the international system from 1950 to 2001 yield support for our hypotheses.
Nutrient Elasticities in a Complete Food Demand System

This study explores the linkage of the determinants of food choice with consumer nutrient availability by developing a procedure to measure changes in nutrient availability as the demand for food items change. It uses demand elasticities from traditional demand analysis to estimate elasticities of changes in the nutritional content of consumer diets. The procedure is applied to estimate nutrient elasticities for fifteen nutrients in response to changes in thirty-five food prices and per capita income. Copyright 1996, Oxford University Press.
Option Listing and Information Asymmetry

Option listing significantly increases both informed and uninformed trading in a sample of 1517 common stocks in the US between 2001 and 2010. Although the average increase of informed trading reaches 12.4%, uninformed trading increases even more by 23.9%, reducing relative information risk. The causal effects of option listing are established using a control sample of stocks with similar propensities of listing, are robust in subsamples of stocks, and are confirmed by a quasi-natural experiment using option listing standards. A placebo test shows that options on exchange-traded-funds increase only uninformed trading. Information in the order flow is incorporated more quickly into prices after listing. The results suggest that options improve the overall market information environment beyond substitutional effects to stock trading. The benefits are more prominent for stocks with active options trading, and opaque and illiquid stocks.
Demyelination in rheumatic diseases

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterised by multifocal areas of demyelination in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord. Autoantibodies, for example antinuclear antibodies, can also be present. MS and other demyelinating processes, such as transverse myelitis and optic neuritis (which may be clinically isolated cases or be part of the clinical spectrum of MS), are sometimes difficult to differentiate from CNS involvement in systemic autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), Sjoegren’s syndrome (SS), and Adamantiades-Behcet disease (BD). An acute isolated neurological syndrome presents the biggest diagnostic problem, since it is common in MS, but can also be the only feature or first manifestation in SLE, APS, SS, and BD. Indeed, the clinical presentation and lesions evidenced by magnetic resonance imaging may be similar.
Internal branding in Agriculture Bank of Iran: an application of Rusbult's investment model

This paper seeks to theoretically identify the effective factors on employees' brand loyalty in the case of Agriculture Bank of Iran (ABI), based on the Rusbult's investment model. The data was gathered from 200 employees of ABI branches in Tehran city. Cluster sampling via a 29-items questionnaire was employed. Structural equation modelling was used for testing the model. Findings revealed that employees' job satisfaction and employees' investments have a positive effect on the employees' attitudinal brand loyalty. The quality of alternatives demonstrated a negative effect on the employees' attitudinal brand loyalty. Findings also suggested that employees' attitudinal brand loyalty affects employees' behavioural brand loyalty positively. Rusbult's investment model is a new applicable tool for assessing internal branding in a service setting. This paper applied the model for the first time in a banking context.
Life Sciences and Regional Innovation: One Path or Many?

Despite the widespread interest of national, regional and local governments in promoting their own biotechnology industry, it is now well known that this sector exhibits characteristically high levels of geographical clustering in a relatively small number of locations. However, what is less well understood is how these regions have emerged and evolved through time. While there is a tendency to conceive of the necessary and sufficient conditions in fairly universal and formulaic terms—strong research universities with leading medical schools, a well-developed local venture capital industry, and a deep labour market in highly skilled scientific occupations are factors that are most commonly emphasized—we contend that the evolutionary pathways followed by individual regions with successful life science sectors are far from identical. Differences in local historical, geographical and institutional conditions are likely to shape and constrain the subsequent actual evolution of life science industries in particular places in distinctive ways. In this paper, we examine this issue through the lens of a national, 5 years, collaborative research initiative analyzing cluster development and evolution in Canada. We present findings from the study of life science industries in Canada's three largest city regions (Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver), as well as in three smaller city regions (Ottawa, Saskatoon and Halifax). Despite the conventional wisdom that public and private research institutions determine the trajectory of life sciences cluster development, our research suggests that a multiplicity of institutional and non-institutional actors, alongside background regional conditions and chance events, provide the impetus for cluster emergence and growth. We find that regional-scale policy interventions within an overarching national institutional framework have both intended and unintended consequences in helping determine the shape and nature of each region's life science clusters. Finally, we find that both local and non-local sources of knowledge are important to sustaining growth, innovation and dynamism within life science clusters.
Inflation Indicators and Inflation Policy

In recent years, policymakers throughout the world have advocated that monetary policy shift toward inflation targeting. Recent actions in the United States serve to highlight the desire of the Federal Reserve to keep inflation both low and stable, while downplaying the likely output and employment consequences. But control of inflation requires both that one be able to forecast its future path, and that one have estimates of what impact policy changes have on that path. Unfortunately, inflation is very difficult to forecast even at very near horizons. This is true because the relationship of candidate inflation indicators to inflation is neither very strong nor very stable. Beyond this, the relationship between monetary policy instruments, such as the federal funds rate, and inflation also varies substantially over time and cannot be estimated precisely. Construction of policy rules must take these difficulties into account. Several rules are examined, and they have the following interesting properties. First, since prices take time to respond to all types of impulses, the federal funds rate should be raised immediately following a shock. One should not wait for prices to rise before acting. Finally, comparison of the results of price-level targeting with nominal-income targeting suggest that the difficulties inherent in forecasting and controlling the former provide an argument for focusing on the latter.
Specialisation versus diversification: perceived benefits of different business incubation models

Business incubator initiatives are a widespread policy instrument for the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation and the development of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). Recently, there has been an increasing tendency for the more traditional diversified incubators to be superseded by incubators focusing their support elements, processes and selection criteria on firms from one specific sector, and its particular needs. Despite the increasing importance of such specialised incubators in regional innovation strategies, the question of whether they are advantageous has neither been investigated empirically nor discussed theoretically in detail. Drawing on large-scale survey data from 161 firms incubated in either diversified or specialised incubators in Germany, we investigate the benefits to firms of being part of a specialised business incubator as opposed to being part of a generalised business incubator. The investigation of the value-added contribution of specialised incubators, in particular regarding hardware components, business assistance, networking and reputation gains, reveals considerable differences compared to the more diversified incubation model.
Histone H2A.X gene transcription is regulated differently than transcription of other replication-linked histone genes

Histone H2A.X is a replication-independent histone H2A isoprotein species that is encoded by a transcript alternatively processed at the 3' end to yield two mRNAs: a 0.6-kb mRNA ending with the stem-loop structure characteristic of the mRNAs for replication-linked histone species, and a second, polyadenylated 1.6-kb mRNA ending about 1 kb further downstream (C. Mannironi, W. M. Bonner, and C. L. Hatch, Nucleic Acids Res. 17:9113-9126, 1989). Of the two, the 0.6-kb H2A.X stem-loop mRNA predominates in many cell lines, indicating that the presence of two types of mRNA may not completely account for the replication independence of H2A.X protein synthesis. The ambiguity is resolved by the finding that the level of the 0.6-kb H2A.X mRNA is only weakly downregulated during the inhibition of DNA replication and only weakly upregulated during the inhibition of protein synthesis, while the levels of other replication-linked mRNAs are strongly down- or upregulated under these two conditions. Analysis of the nuclear transcription rates of specific H2A genes showed that while the rates of transcription of replication-linked H2A genes decreased substantially during the inhibition of DNA synthesis and increased substantially during the inhibition of protein synthesis, the rate of H2A.X gene transcription decreased slightly under both conditions. These differences in transcriptional regulation between the H2A.X gene and other replication-linked histone genes are sufficient to account for the differences in regulation of their respective stem-loop mRNAs.
An Improved Model for Predicting Presidential Election Outcomes

There is probably no subject which has been studied more thoroughly by political scientists than American presidential elections. A vast literature has developed examining the effects of attitudes toward the parties, candidates, and issues on voter decision-making in these quadrennial contests (for a comprehensive review of this literature see Asher, 1988). Despite the proliferation of literature on this topic, however, relatively little research has addressed what is perhaps the most basic question about presidential elections: who wins and who loses? A few scholars have developed models for predicting the national outcomes of presidential elections. Brody and Sigelman (1983) proposed a model based on the incumbent president's approval rating in the final Gallup Poll before the election. This extremely simple model yielded an unadjusted R2 of . 71. Hibbs (1982) proposed a different bivariate model based entirely on the trend in real per capita disposable income since the last presidential election. This model yielded an unadjusted R2 of . 63. Thus, neither of these bivariate models proved to be highly accurate. Lewis-Beck and Rice (1984) have developed a forecasting model which combines economic conditions and presidential popularity, Their model, which uses the president's approval rating in May and the change in real per capita GNP during the second quarter of the election year to predict the popular vote for president, yields an unadjusted R2 of . 82.
Causes of Death in Pediatric Patients Vertically Infected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 in Madrid, Spain, From 1982 to Mid-2009

Background: Effective therapies have increased life expectancy of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected pediatric patients. We investigated the underlying causes of death, mortality, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) rates in HIV-infected pediatric patients in Madrid, Spain. Methods: We studied a multicenter cohort of 478 HIV-infected pediatric patients in Madrid. Mortality and AIDS incidence rates, causes of death, CD4+ T-cell, and HIV RNA were analyzed during calendar periods (CPs): pre-HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) (CP1: 1982–1996) and post-HAART era (CP2: 1997–2009). Results: During 5690 person-years of follow-up 157 (32.8%) deaths occurred. Median age at death increased (CP1: 3.2 years [1.0–6.3] vs. CP2: 7.7 years [3.1–11.4]; P < 0.01). Mortality and AIDS rates decreased 10.6-fold (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 6.9–16.7) and 6.9-fold (95% CI: 5.0–9.6), respectively, between CPs. Nevertheless, mortality was 10.4-fold (95% CI: 5.8–18.8; P < 0.001) higher than in age-similar general population in late-CP2. In all, 169 causes of death were reported. Multiple causes were reported in 16 of 151 (10.6%) patients. In 81.1% (137/169), the causes were AIDS-defining, 11.8% (20/169) HIV-related, and 7.1% (12/169) non-HIV-related. Infections were the leading causes (60.8%, 101/166); from 1999 to 2007 the risk of death from infections was 115.9 times (95% CI: 42.0–265.8; P < 0.001) higher than in the age-similar general population. Comorbidity was reported in 66.9% (101/151) of patients. Median HIV-1 RNA at death decreased (CP1: 5.9 [5.0–6.3]; CP2: 5.3 [4.2–5.8]; P < 0.01). Conclusions: Despite decline in mortality and AIDS rates, it is important to monitor all causes of death as prolonged survival might allow underlying comorbidity to become more clinically relevant.
Protection from respiratory syncytial virus infection in cotton rats by passive transfer of monoclonal antibodies

The effects of passive administration of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (MAB) to respiratory syncytial virus glycoproteins (GP90 and VP70) was evaluated in cotton rats challenged with respiratory syncytial virus. Animals injected with MAB to VP70 had lower mean viral titers in lung tissues than did controls (log10 2.5 versus 5.4 PFU/g; P less than 0.001), as did cotton rats given MAB to GP90 (log10 2.1 versus 5.0 PFU/g; P less than 0.001). Fifty percent of animals given either MAB had no detectable virus in lung tissues, whereas virus was detected in the lungs of all controls. Virus growth in nasal turbinates was decreased but not eliminated in recipients of either MAB.
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Has Anti-Inflammatory Effects at the Maternal-Fetal Interface and Prevents Endotoxin-Induced Preterm Birth, but Causes Dystocia and Fetal Compromise in Mice

ABSTRACT Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is implicated in the maintenance of uterine quiescence by down-regulating myometrial gap junctions during pregnancy, and it was considered as a strategy to prevent preterm birth after the occurrence of preterm labor. However, the effect of hCG on innate and adaptive immune cells implicated in parturition is poorly understood. Herein, we investigated the immune effects of hCG at the maternal-fetal interface during late gestation, and whether this hormone can safely prevent endotoxin-induced preterm birth. Using immunophenotyping, we demonstrated that hCG has immune effects at the maternal-fetal interface (decidual tissues) by: 1) increasing the proportion of regulatory T cells; 2) reducing the proportion of macrophages and neutrophils; 3) inducing an M1 → M2 macrophage polarization; and 4) increasing the proportion of T helper 17 cells. Next, ELISAs were used to determine whether the local immune changes were associated with systemic concentrations of progesterone, estradiol, and/or cytokines (IFNgamma, IL1beta, IL2, IL4, IL5, IL6, IL10, IL12p70, KC/GRO, and TNFalpha). Plasma concentrations of IL1beta, but not progesterone, estradiol, or any other cytokine, were increased following hCG administration. Pretreatment with hCG prevented endotoxin-induced preterm birth by 44%, proving the effectiveness of this hormone as an anti-inflammatory agent. However, hCG administration alone caused dystocia and fetal compromise, as proven by Doppler ultrasound. These results provide insight into the mechanisms whereby hCG induces an anti-inflammatory microenvironment at the maternal-fetal interface during late gestation, and demonstrate its effectiveness in preventing preterm labor/birth. However, the deleterious effects of this hormone on mothers and fetuses warrant caution.
[Accuracy of ultrasonic fetal weight estimation using head and abdominal circumference and femur length].

INTRODUCTION Former investigations have shown that the accuracy of fetal weight estimation is significantly higher if several ultrasonic fetal parameters are measured, because the total body mass depends on the size of fetal head, abdominal circumference and femur length. The aim of this investigation was to establish the best regression model, that is a number of combinations of fetal parameters providing the most accurate fetal weight estimation in utero in our population. MATERIAL AND METHODS This prospective study was carried out at the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic of the Clinical Center Novi Sad. It included 270 pregnant women with singleton pregnancies within 72 hours of delivery who underwent ultrasound measurements of the biparietal diameter (BPD), head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC) and femur length (FL). RESULTS In regard to fetal weight estimation formulas, the deviation was lowest using regression models that simultaneously analyzed four fetal parameters (0. 55%) with SD +/- 7.61%. In these models the estimates of fetal weights were within +/- 5% of actual birth weight in 48.89%, and within +/- 10% of actual birth weight in 81.48%. Good results were also obtained using AC, FL measurements (0.92% +/- 8.20) as well as using AC, HC, FL measurements (-1.45% +/- 7.81). In our sample the combination of AC and FL model gave better results in fetal weight estimation (0.92 +/- 8.20%) than the one using BPD and AC (2.97 +/- 8.83%). Furthermore, the model using parameters AC, HC and FL showed a lower error in accuracy (-1.45 +/- 7.81%) than the model using BPD, AC and FL (2.51 +/- 7.82%). CONCLUSION This investigation has confirmed that the accuracy of fetal weight estimation increases with the number of measured ultrasonic fetal parameters. In our population the greatest accuracy was obtained using BPD, HC, AC and FL model. In cases when fast estimation of fetal weight is needed, AC, HC, FL model may be appropriate, but if fetal head circumference cannot be measured (amnion rupture and/or fetal head already in the pelvis) the AC, FL model should be used.