Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Indirect Link:

This study ascertains the extent to which domestic politics and the state of the national economy are relevant factors to U.S. presidents faced with the decision to use force during international crises. The author tests a diversionary theory of the use of force that treats the relationship between politics and the use of force as nonrecursive and that considers both the incentives and the constraints faced by the president. To analyze the political economy of the use of force from 1949 to 1984, the author uses a simultaneous equations model specified with force and presidential approval as the endogenous variables. This design taps the interdependence between politics, the economy, and the decision to use force, and allows the author to assess the direct and indirect effects of the economy on uses of force. The author finds an indirect link between the economy, politics, and the use of force.
Murine marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cell: isolation, in vitro expansion, and characterization

Summary. In spite of the attention given to the study of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from the bone marrow (BM) of humans and other species, there is a lack of information about murine MSCs. We describe the establishment of conditions for the in vitro expansion of plastic‐adherent cells from murine BM for over 50 passages, and provide their characterization regarding morphology, surface marker profile and growth kinetics. These cells were shown to differentiate along osteogenic and adipogenic pathways, and to support the growth and differentiation of haematopoietic stem cells, and were thus operationally defined as murine mesenchymal stem cells (mMSCs). mMSCs were positive for the surface markers CD44, CD49e, CD29 and Sca‐1, and exhibited a homogeneous, distinctive morphology. Their frequency in the BM of adult BALB/c and C57Bl/6 mice, normal or knockout for the α‐L‐iduronidase (IDUA) gene, was preliminarily estimated to be 1 per 11 300–27 000 nucleated cells. The emergence of a defined methodology for the culture of mMSCs, as well as a comprehensive understanding of their biology, will make the development of cellular and genetic therapy protocols in murine models possible, and provide new perspectives in the field of adult stem cells research.
Expression of A Kinase Anchor Protein 121 Is Regulated by Hormones in Thyroid and Testicular Germ Cells*

Distinct A KinaseAnchor Proteins (AKAPs) immobilize and concentrate protein kinase A II (PKAII) isoforms at specific intracellular locations. AKAP121 binds and targets PKAIIα to the cytoplasmic surface of mitochondria. Mechanisms that control expression of this mitochondrial AKAP are unknown. We have cloned cDNA for rat AKAP121 and show that AKAP121 protein expression is regulated by thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and cAMP. Differentiated thyroid cells (TL5) accumulate AKAP121 upon incubation with TSH or a cAMP analog. Levels of total and newly synthesized AKAP121 mRNA also increased after treatment. AKAP121 mRNA accumulated in the presence of cycloheximide, suggesting that transcription of the anchor protein gene is directly controlled by cAMP and PKA. AKAP121 is induced with similar kinetics when an unrelated, spermatocyte-derived cell line (GC-2) is incubated with 8-chlorophenylthio-cAMP. Thus, AKAP121 concentration may be controlled by hormones that activate adenylate cyclase. This mode of regulation could provide a general mechanism for (a) enhancing the sensitivity of distal organelles to cAMP and (b) shifting the focus of cAMP-mediated signaling from cytoplasm to organelles.
[Leu8]des‐Arg9‐bradykinin inhibits the angiogenic effect of bradykinin and interleukin‐1 in rats

1 Subcutaneous implantation of sterile polyether sponges in rats elicited a reproducible neovascular response over 14 days, as determined by measurements of relative sponge blood flow by a 133Xe clearance technique. The angiogenic response was verified by quantitation of haemoglobin contents and histological evaluation of vascularized sponges. 2 Daily administration of 1 nmol of bradykinin (BK) into the implants significantly enhanced the basal sponge‐induced neovascularization, leading to higher 133Xe clearance values, increased haemoglobin contents, cellularity and vascularity. 3 When given alone, lower doses of BK (10 pmol) or recombinant human interleukin‐1 α (IL‐1α, 0.3 pmol) produced no apparent effects on the basal sponge‐induced angiogenesis. However, co‐administration of these two peptides produced an angiogenic response similar to that elicited by 1 nmol of BK. 4 The BK/IL‐1α‐induced neovascularization was abolished by the bradykinin B1 receptor antagonist, [Leu8]des‐Arg9‐BK (1 nmol day−1), but not by the B2 receptor antagonist Ac‐d‐Arg‐[Hyp3,d‐Phe7,Leu8]‐BK (1 nmol day−1). 5 Thus, if such interaction between BK and IL‐1α contributes to the excessive neovascularization in chronic inflammatory diseases, the blockade of B1 receptors may provide an effective treatment.
Abatacept or tocilizumab after rituximab in rheumatoid arthritis? An exploratory study suggests non-response to rituximab is associated with persistently high IL-6 and better clinical response to IL-6 blocking therapy

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of two different targeted approaches—abatacept or tocilizumab—after rituximab therapy in rheumatoid arthritis, and to explain observed difference in efficacy using blood and synovial studies of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and B cells in patients receiving rituximab therapy. Methods Consecutive series of patients who had discontinued rituximab therapy owing to inefficacy or toxicity were treated with abatacept (n=16) or tocilizumab (n=35). Clinical response and reasons for discontinuation were evaluated. Serial blood and synovial samples were obtained from a group of 57 and 25 rituximab-treated patients, respectively, and were analysed for B cells and IL-6 using flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time PCR. Results In the abatacept group, mean (SEM) Disease Activity Score in 28 joints calculated using the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) reduced from 5.69 (0.42) at baseline to 4.94 (0.44) at 6 months (p=0.12). In the tocilizumab group: mean (SEM) DAS28- ESR reduced from 5.75 (0.21) at baseline to 3.28 (0.26) at 6 months (p<0.001). This was paralleled by a significant swollen joint count reduction in the tocilizumab (5.47 (0.70) to 2.70 (0.61), p=0.033), but not abatacept (6.23 (1.3) to 4.15 (1.2), p=0.26), group. In the synovium, despite complete depletion of B cells in 19/22 patients, IL-6 mRNA expression was not significantly reduced after rituximab. Blood B cell numbers remained low 12 months after rituximab. Serum IL-6 was raised at baseline and significantly higher in rituximab clinical non-responders (p=0.035) than responders. A significant reduction in serum IL-6 was seen in rituximab clinical responders (p=0.005) but not in non-responders (p=0.237). Conclusion In patients with rheumatoid arthritis for whom rituximab therapy failed despite adequate B cell depletion, IL-6-directed therapy might be a more logical and effective treatment choice than T cell costimulation blockade. Further controlled studies investigating other possible mechanisms are needed to validate these initial findings.
Understanding Parental Involvement in American Public Education

To understand parental involvement in American public schools it was important to examine the literature on the evolution of parent involvement in education in America in terms of its development and policy perspective. Further, the review of the literature examined parent involvement overall, including the purpose and impact of parent involvement as well as the barriers to parent involvement and parents’ motivation for involvement.
Business-level strategy and performance: The moderating effects of environment and structure

Purpose – This study aims to examine the moderating effects of external environment and organisational structure in the relationship between business‐level strategy and organisational performance.Design/methodology/approach – The focus of the study is on manufacturing firms in the UK belonging to the electrical and mechanical engineering sectors, and respondents were CEOs. Both objective and subjective measures were used to assess performance. Non‐response bias was assessed statistically and appropriate measures taken to minimise the impact of common method variance (CMV). Findings – The results indicate that environmental dynamism and hostility act as moderators in the relationship between business‐level strategy and relative competitive performance. In low‐hostility environments a cost‐leadership strategy and in high‐hostility environments a differentiation strategy lead to better performance compared with competitors. In highly dynamic environments a cost‐leadership strategy and in low dynamism environm.
Distributed Decisions in Networks: Laboratory Study of Routing Splittable Flow

We study network games in which users choose routes in computerized networks susceptible to congestion. In the “unsplittable” condition, route choices are completely unregulated, players are symmetric, each player controls a single unit of flow and chooses a single origin–destination (O–D) path. In the “splittable” condition, which is the main focus of this study, route choices are partly regulated, players are asymmetric, each player controls multiple units of flow and chooses multiple O–D paths to distribute her fleet. In each condition, users choose routes in two types of network: a basic network with three parallel routes and an augmented network with five routes sharing joint links. We construct and subsequently test equilibrium solutions for each combination of condition and network type, and then propose a Markov revision protocol to account for the dynamics of play. In both conditions, route choice behavior approaches equilibrium and the Braess Paradox is clearly manifested.
North Korea as a Military Dictatorship

Abstract In this paper I apply the model of dictatorship, developed in my 1998 book, The Political Economy of Dictatorship, and elsewhere, to understand the workings of the North Korean regime. I argue that initially, under Kim Il Sung it was a Soviet-style regime but the shocks of the 1990s – the fall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe, the capitalist turn of China, the economic takeoff of South Korea and the succession crisis caused by Kim Il Sung’s death threatened the stability of that regime. Kim Jong Il shored up the regime by marrying it to the military. However, military rule is typically unstable. Kim Jong Il resolved this paradox essentially by militarizing the entire society. This is the distinctive feature of the regime. I analyze the stability of that regime, and ask whether engagement or isolation is the best way for the rest of the world to deal with North Korea.
Self-provided Housing: The First World's Hidden Housing Arm

Self-provided housing is a major form of housing supply in nearly all the developed countries of W. Europe, N. America and Australasia. In many, like France or Germany, it accounted for the major part of housing output during the 1980s. Contrary to many opinions self-provision is not associated with backwardness, peripherality, or lack of market development. Rather, self-provided housing is often a major element in the expansion of European metropoles and sometimes reaches the heights of 'post-fordist' industrial organisation and product development. Self-provision lowers the money cost of housing and usually ensures higher quality, and in this way enlarges the housing choices of middle-income nuclear families. Materials and land costs remain substantial barriers to self-provision, and the more disadvantaged groups are usually unable to participate. However, the presence of a large self-provided sector can indirectly improve their housing position. Housing cycles will be calmed, spatial polarisation will be less severe, and there will be less competition from the more advantaged in rental markets. A significant self-provision sector can also have important effects on the housebuilding industry, both through direct competition and by presenting a different market environment. The net result is likely to be a decline in speculative behaviour and a concentration on longer-term efficiency. Finally, there are various 'models' for a successful self-provided housing sector, where the necessary social support is organised in different ways by different agencies. These will affect the level and distribution of self-provision. Given the importance of self-provided housing in all these ways, it merits considerably further research than has been the case so far.
Role of indoleamine 2,3‐dioxygenase in an inflammatory model of murine gingiva

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is one of the major pathways for metabolism of tryptophan in a variety of cells, including immune cells. Increasing evidence indicates that IDO is a critical player in establishing the balance between immunity and tolerance and ultimately in the maintenance of homeostasis. By inducing inflammation in gingival tissue, we tested the hypothesis that IDO is a pivotal player in regulating the immune and inflammatory responses of gingiva. MATERIAL AND METHODS We utilized the IDO knockout mouse model in conjunction with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation. Accordingly, wild-type and IDO knockout mice were injected with LPS or vehicle in the anterior mandibular gingiva, twice over a 2-wk period, which was followed by procurement of gingival tissue for histopathology and preparation of tissue for flow cytometry-based studies. RESULTS Clinical and histological examinations revealed a marked adverse impact of IDO deficiency on gingival inflammation. These observations were consistent with a more marked increase in the number of cells positive for the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-17, but no significant change in the number of cells positive for the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, in LPS-treated IDO knockout mice. Consistent with the more marked proinflammatory impact of IDO deficiency, the percentage of regulatory T cells was much reduced in gingival tissue of LPS-treated IDO knockout mice than in gingival tissue of wild-type mice. These proinflammatory changes were accompanied with a prominent increase in apoptotic and necrotic cell death in gingival tissue of IDO knockout mice compared with wild-type mice. CONCLUSION Collectively, our findings support a major role for IDO in the development of gingival inflammation, as an example of an inflammatory condition, and lay the foundation for subsequent studies to explore it as a novel immunotherapy target.
Price Convergence in the EU Poultry and Eggs Markets

This paper uses the notions of convergence in ratio and of convergence in difference to investigate price convergence for poultry and eggs in geographically separated EU markets. According to the empirical results, there is global and strong convergence of prices in the poultry markets but not in the egg markets. The latter appear to be fragmented into a number of price convergence clubs.
The Treatment of History in Organisation Studies: Towards an ‘Historic Turn’?

There is an increasing call for an historical perspective in organisation studies. In this essay we want to assess the major research programmes in organisation studies in relation to the ‘historic turn’ that has transformed the way other branches of the social sciences and humanities ‘go about their business’. The historic turn is part of a wider transformation that is alluded to in terms such as the ‘discursive turn’, deconstruction and post-modernism. Within history itself this transformation is associated with hermeneutics, the ‘linguistic turn’, and the revival of narrative. However, we feel that the term ‘historic turn’ may prove useful in marshalling support for calls for more history, and a different approach to history, within organisation studies, rather than subsuming it under labels that do not emphasise the historical aspect. An historic turn would represent a transformation of organisation studies in at least three senses. First, it would represent a turn against the view that organisation studies should constitute a branch of the science of society. This would parallel the ‘linguistic turn’ in history, where ‘the question ‘‘how is history like and unlike fiction? ’’ has replaced ‘‘how is history like and unlike science? ’’ as the guiding question of metahistorical reflection’. The linguistic turn in history is an instance of the general displacement of ‘the Scientific Attitude’ by ‘the Rhetorical Attitude’. Second, as in other fields, an historic turn would involve ‘a contentious and by no means well-defined turn towards history – as past, process, context, and so on’, but not necessarily towards the most adjacent branch of history, which in the case of organisation studies would be business history. Finally, an historic turn would entail a turn to historiographical debates and historical theories of interpretation that recognise the inherent ambiguity of the term ‘history’ itself, which refers to both ‘the totality of past human actions, and . the narrative or account we construct of them’. This would necessitate greater reflection on the place of historical narrative in organisation studies. An argument can be made that organisation studies has already become more historical. The new institutional economics of Coasian heritage, as opposed to the old institutionalism of Veblen and Commons, has had considerable influence on the rise of organisational economics, which is certainly more historical than orthodox neoclassical economics. The resource-based view of the firm derived from Penrose and evolutionary economics, with its emphasis on path dependence,
Internationalization and Financial Health in the US Hotel Industry

This study examines two main hypotheses regarding the internationalization and financial health of publicly traded US hotels from 1990 to 2010. First, the study hypothesizes that international US hotels are financially healthier than domestic US hotels. The findings support the hypothesis after controlling for other potential confounding factors: a firm's growth opportunity, profitability, size, leverage, capital intensity and economic conditions. Next, the study tests the second hypothesis, that international US hotels face a great challenge in terms of their financial health as they enter foreign markets due to the many unknown factors in such international settings. However, it is expected that the internationalization strategy will gradually provide more benefits as the firm increases its degree of internationalization, and thus that benefits will eventually outweigh costs, leading to a U-shaped relationship. The study's findings support this curvilinear U-shaped relationship within the dataset of internationally operating US hotels.
Global Restructuring, the Welfare State and Urban Programmes: Federal Policies and Inequality within Australian Cities

This paper is a prelude to a theme issue in 2003 on Australasian city and regional problems and policies. It considers the impact of economic restructuring on the level of inequality and disadvantage within Australian cities. Evidence is presented that Australian cities have become more unequal over the past two decades and this greater level of inequality has found concrete expression within the built environment. These patterns of inequality are distinct to Australia. It is argued that the Australian Government's reliance on tightly targeted income support policies and market-based solutions to economic disadvantage has contributed greatly to the concentration of low income and vulnerable households within certain sections of Australian cities.
Women as Torture Victims

This paper reports a retrospective study of the frequency, severity, modalities and mental health consequences of torture in 28 Latin American refugee women in Toronto. The data on these women and a comparison group of male torture victims were retrieved from case records in a hospital outpatient clinic. The results support the hypotheses implicit in the scanty literature available that the frequency and effects of torture in women differ from those found in men. Infernale victims, as in their male counterparts, the severity of the torture was related to the degree of their political involvement. However, torture was more frequently sexual, and its consequences more often affected the women's sexual adaptation.
Renin–angiotensin system inhibitor and statins combination therapeutics – what have we learnt?

Hypercholesterolemia and hypertension are the most common risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Updated guidelines emphasize target reduction of overall cardiovascular risks. Hypercholesterolemia and hypertension have a synergistic deleterious effect on insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction. Unregulated renin–angiotensin system (RAS) is important in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Statins are the most important in patients with hypercholesterolemia to prevent CVD by lowering low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, improving endothelial dysfunction, and other anti-atherosclerotic effects. Unfortunately, statin therapy dose-dependently causes insulin resistance and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. RAS inhibitors improve both endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance in addition to blood pressure lowering. Further, cross-talk between hypercholesterolemia and RAS exists at multiple steps of insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction. In this regard, combined therapy with statins and RAS inhibitors demonstrates additive/synergistic beneficial effects on endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance in addition to lowering both cholesterol levels and blood pressure and it did reduce cardiovascular events when compared with either monotherapy in patients. This is mediated by both distinct and interrelated mechanisms. Therefore, combined therapy with statins and RAS inhibitors may be important in developing optimal management strategies in patients with hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, metabolic syndrome or obesity to prevent or treat CVD.
The role of cannabinoids in adult neurogenesis

The processes underpinning post‐developmental neurogenesis in the mammalian brain continue to be defined. Such processes involve the proliferation of neural stem cells and neural progenitor cells (NPCs), neuronal migration, differentiation and integration into a network of functional synapses within the brain. Both intrinsic (cell signalling cascades) and extrinsic (neurotrophins, neurotransmitters, cytokines, hormones) signalling molecules are intimately associated with adult neurogenesis and largely dictate the proliferative activity and differentiation capacity of neural cells. Cannabinoids are a unique class of chemical compounds incorporating plant‐derived cannabinoids (the active components of Cannabis sativa), the endogenous cannabinoids and synthetic cannabinoid ligands, and these compounds are becoming increasingly recognized for their roles in neural developmental processes. Indeed, cannabinoids have clear modulatory roles in adult neurogenesis, probably through activation of both CB1 and CB2 receptors. In recent years, a large body of literature has deciphered the signalling networks involved in cannabinoid‐mediated regulation of neurogenesis. This timely review summarizes the evidence that the cannabinoid system is intricately associated with neuronal differentiation and maturation of NPCs and highlights intrinsic/extrinsic signalling mechanisms that are cannabinoid targets. Overall, these findings identify the central role of the cannabinoid system in adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus and the lateral ventricles and hence provide insight into the processes underlying post‐developmental neurogenesis in the mammalian brain.