Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Retinoic acid induces homing of protective T and B cells to the gut after subcutaneous immunization in mice.

Diarrheal diseases represent a major health burden in developing countries. Parenteral immunization typically does not induce efficient protection against enteropathogens because it does not stimulate migration of immune cells to the gut. Retinoic acid (RA) is critical for gut immunity, inducing upregulation of gut-homing receptors on activated T cells. In this study, we have demonstrated that RA can redirect immune responses elicited by s.c. vaccination of mice from skin-draining inguinal LNs (ingLNs) to the gut. When present during priming, RA induced robust upregulation of gut-homing receptors in ingLNs, imprinting gut-homing capacity on T cells. Concurrently, RA triggered the generation of gut-tropic IgA+ plasma cells in ingLNs and raised the levels of antigen-specific IgA in the intestinal lumen and blood. RA applied s.c. in vivo induced autonomous RA production in ingLN DCs, further driving efficient induction of gut-homing molecules on effector cells. Importantly, RA-supplemented s.c. immunization elicited a potent immune response in the small intestine that protected mice from cholera toxin–induced diarrhea and diminished bacterial loads in Peyer patches after oral infection with Salmonella. Thus, the use of RA as a gut-homing navigator represents a powerful tool to induce protective immunity in the intestine after s.c. immunization, offering what we believe to be a novel approach for vaccination against enteropathogens.
The political economy of Islamic business associations: social movement tactics, social networks, and regional development in Turkey

Turkey has undergone large-scale transformations over the past 30 years, changing it from a Kemalist Republic to a country ruled by a moderately Islamic party – the Justice and Development Party (AKP). I study how Islamic business associations (BAs) have gained political influence over dominant secular BAs in Turkey – a key process of these transformations. Existing literature treats voluntary BAs either as purely economic institutions, or focuses on political elites’ strategic policy and power interests in explaining BAs’ political influence. There is inadequate guidance on when BAs turn into political actors, and how they engage in mobilisation and broader intra-state power struggles. Especially the role of ideology and religion has been neglected, which is relevant for several transition countries’ business politics. This inadequacy can be addressed by developing a social movement framework. Following a grounded theory approach, I conducted a comparative analysis of secular and Islamic BAs’ networks structures (1993–2012), collective action frames, organisational structures and patterns of resource-exchange across changing institutional contexts. Findings are based on 51 semi-structured interviews in Gaziantep’s textile cluster in Turkey and additional archival material. I argue that Islamic BAs gained political influence because they applied typical social movement tactics that are adapted to the cultural and political environment. Conditions of politico-religious contention combined with gradual economic liberalisation have encouraged marginalised businesspeople to apply Islam in a non-contentious and market-based way. By integrating with civil society at the grassroots level, and gaining the support of political elites, Islamic BAs have complemented economic activities with resonant framing. These tactics grounded in Islam have increased Islamic BAs political influence by creating a new pious and legitimate business elite. These findings contribute to the literature by extending the types of institutional incentives, tactics and actors that businesspeople rely on to engage in contentious politics to include ideological factors.
Reexcision Perineural Invasion Not a Sign of Malignancy

Perineural invasion has been reported to occur in both benign and malignant neoplasms. We describe two cases in which perineural invasion by epithelial cells was present in reexcision skin specimens removed because of melanocytic lesions in the original biopsy material. Because of the absence of a primary epithelial neoplasm, this phenomenon was interpreted as a reactive or reparative process, most probably resulting from regenerating traumatized sweat gland ducts. On the basis of this study alone, it may not be possible to distinguish between reexcision perineural invasion and perineural invasion from a primary epithelial neoplasm. For such cases, the following histologic features serve as provisional guidelines favoring an interpretation of reexcision perineural invasion: absence of perineural spread beyond the immediate previous biopsy site, benign appearance of the perineural epithelial cells different from the appearance of the original tumor, and absence of residual epithelial tumor in the vicinity of the involved perineurium.
The positive correlation between maternal size and offspring size: fitting pieces of a life‐history puzzle

The evolution of investment per offspring (I) is often viewed through the lens of the classic theory, in which variation among individuals in a population is not expected. A substantial departure from this prediction arises in the form of correlations between maternal body size and I, which are observed within populations in virtually all taxonomic groups. Based on the generality of this observation, we suggest it is caused by a common underlying mechanism. We pursue a unifying explanation for this pattern by reviewing all theoretical models that attempt to explain it. We assess the generality of the mechanism upon which each model is based, and the extent to which data support its predictions. Two classes of adaptive models are identified: models that assume that the correlation arises from maternal influences on the relationship between I and offspring fitness [w(I)], and those that assume that maternal size influences the relationship between I and maternal fitness [W(I)]. The weight of evidence suggests that maternal influences on w(I) are probably not very general, and even for taxa where maternal influences on w(I) are likely, experiments fail to support model predictions. Models that assume that W(I) varies with maternal size appear to offer more generality, but the current challenge is to identify a specific and general mechanism upon which W(I) varies predictably with maternal size. Recent theory suggests the exciting possibility that a yet unknown mechanism modifies the offspring size–number trade‐off function in a manner that is predictable with respect to maternal size, such that W(I) varies with size. We identify two promising avenues of inquiry. First, the trade‐off might be modified by energetic costs that are associated with the initiation of reproduction (‘overhead costs’) and that scale with I, and future work could investigate what specific overhead costs are generally associated with reproduction and whether these costs scale with I. Second, the trade‐off might be modified by virtue of condition‐dependent offspring provisioning coupled with metabolic factors, and future work could investigate the proximate cause of, and generality of, condition‐dependent offspring provisioning. Finally, drawing on the existing literature, we suggest that maternal size per se is not causatively related to variation in I, and the mechanism involved in the correlation is instead linked to maternal nutritional status or maternal condition, which is usually correlated with maternal size. Using manipulative experiments to elucidate why females with high nutritional status typically produce large offspring might help explain what specific mechanism underlies the maternal‐size correlation.
Methylation of GPLs in Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium avium

ABSTRACT Several species of mycobacteria express abundant glycopeptidolipids (GPLs) on the surfaces of their cells. The GPLs are glycolipids that contain modified sugars including acetylated 6-deoxy-talose and methylated rhamnose. Four methyltransferases have been implicated in the synthesis of the GPLs of Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium avium. A rhamnosyl 3-O-methytransferase and a fatty acid methyltransferase of M. smegmatis have been previously characterized. In this paper, we characterize the methyltransferases that are responsible for modifying the hydroxyl groups at positions 2 and 4 of rhamnose and propose the biosynthetic sequence of GPL trimethylrhamnose formation. The analysis of M. avium genes through the creation of specific mutants is technically difficult; therefore, an alternative approach to determine the function of putative methyltransferases of M. avium was undertaken. Complementation of M. smegmatis methyltransferase mutants with M. avium genes revealed that MtfC and MtfB of the latter species have 4-O-methyltransferase activity and that MtfD is a 3-O-methyltransferase which can modify rhamnose of GPLs in M. smegmatis.
Foreign Exchange Intervention and the Political Business Cycle: A Panel Data Analysis: a panel data analysis

By combining expansionary open market operations with sales of foreign exchange, the central bank can expand the monetary base without depreciating the exchange rate. Thus, if there is a monetary political business cycle, sales of foreign exchange are especially likely before elections. Our panel data analysis for up to 146 countries in 1975-2001 supports this hypothesis. Foreign exchange reserves relative to trend GDP depend negatively on the preelection index. The relationship is significant and robust irrespective of the type of electoral variable, the choice of control variables and the estimation technique.
Patients with osteoporotic hip fractures: factors affecting length of hospital stay (LOS) and outcome.

OBJECTIVE Identify risk factors associated with prolonged hospital stay (LOS more than 14 days) in patients with osteoporotic hip fracture. MATERIAL AND METHOD One hundred and fifty out of 356 patients with fractured femur were selected between April 2008 and August 2009. Analysis of patient's LOS (group I equal or less than 14 days, group II more than 14 days) is performed by backward binary multiple logistic regression. RESULTS LOS in group I (n=46) was 12.5 (+/- 4) days compared to 21 (+/- 11) days in group II (n=104). Patients were mainly female (74%) and about 50% were aged over 80 years. The 30-days mortality in group I and II was zero and two patients respectively. Time-to-surgery was three days (+/- 2) in group I and seven (+/- 5) days in group II. Significant predicting risk factors were waiting for investigation (odds ratio (OR) 3.77, confidence interval (CI) 1.12-12.69) and receiving systemic opioids (OR 3.44; CI 1.54-7.66). CONCLUSION Unnecessary surgery delay after hip fracture should be avoided. Higher need for opioids in those patients might be the result of prolonged waiting for surgical treatment.
The effect of financial crises on stock market liquidity across global markets

In this study, using a widely available market liquidity measure, the “turnover ratio”, the authors test for market liquidity contagion during the four financial crises that occurred between 1997 and 1999: The Thai crisis, the Hong Kong crisis, the Russian crisis, and the Brazilian crisis. It is found that while the liquidity levels decreased in approximately half of the sample markets, in the remaining half, the liquidity levels actually improved. The Granger causality tests show that while there is almost no evidence of causality (in both directions) before each crisis, during each crisis, approximately half of the pairwise tests were significant. The results show that most of these causalities are reverse feedback effects from the non-crisis-origin markets to the crisis-origin market. Therefore, it is concluded that the more crucial phenomenon during these crises is the “reverse feedback effects” rather than the liquidity contagion itself. Halil D. Kaya (USA), Engku Ngah S. Engkuchik (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES LLC “СPС “Business Perspectives” Hryhorii Skovoroda lane, 10, Sumy, 40022, Ukraine www.businessperspectives. org THE EFFECT OF FINANCIAL CRISES ON STOCK MARKET LIQUIDITY ACROSS GLOBAL MARKETS Received on: 2 of March, 2017 Accepted on: 29 of March, 2017 © Halil D. Kaya, Engku Ngah S. Engkuchik, 2017 Halil D. Kaya, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Finance, Northeastern State University, USA. Engku Ngah S. Engkuchik, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Finance, Prince Sultan University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license, which permits re-use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the materials aren’t used for commercial purposes and the original work is properly cited. financial crisis, contagion, liquidity, turnover ratio
Does self-regulation require cognitive resources? Evaluation of resource allocation models of goal setting.

The resource allocation model of goal setting (R. Kanfer & P.L. Ackerman, 1989) maintains that self-regulation initiated through goal setting requires attentional resources that could be more productively applied to skill acquisition and complex task performance. The current study questioned this hypothesis because attentional resources had not been directly manipulated or measured in studies supporting the model. Thus, alternative explanations that are based on other complex task goal-setting models cannot be excluded. As a direct test of the resource allocation hypothesis, dual task methodology was used to measure the attentional resource requirements of self-regulation. Even at the limits of human information processing, participants who were assigned difficult, specific goals performed at least as well on the secondary task as did individuals with do-your-best goals. These findings suggest that self-regulation does not necessarily require attentional resources. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Financial inclusion, financial development, and economic diversification in Nigeria

The current oil-induced fiscal crisis in Nigeria has, once again, brought the country into the headlines as suffering great economic hardship. As a result, economic diversification is currently at the center of the debate on how Nigeria can improve its economic performance and achieve higher incomes. This discussion, however, has most of the times lacked an explanation of how financial development and financial inclusion can help to drive economic diversification in Nigeria. The literature is scanty in this regard. The objective of this study, therefore, is to contribute to this empirical evidence to the understanding of the impact of financial development and financial inclusion on economic diversification in Nigeria. The data for the study is from CBN Statistical Bulletin and World Development Indicators, for the period 1981 to 2014. It is well-known in the literature that employing the standard OLS techniques on non-stationary data may lead to spurious results. This study, therefore, uses the fully modified least square (FMOLS) which is designed to provide optimal estimates of cointegrating regressions. The results show that financial development has a positive effect on economic diversification, though the effect is not statistically significant. Additionally, financial inclusion, in terms of financial access and financial usage, has positive and significant effects on economic diversification. In other words, financial inclusion has contributed significantly to the diversification of the Nigerian economy. As well, GDP per capita, capital formation, and human capital development have positive and significant effects on economic diversification. FDI has positive effects on economic diversification, though the effects are not significant. On the contrary, exchange rate and trade openness have negative and significant effects on economic diversification. Financial inclusion can, therefore, be seen as a potent accelerator of economic diversification, and can help realize the national objectives of building shared prosperity and abolishing extreme poverty in Nigeria.
The place of inhaled corticosteroids in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a narrative review

ABSTRACT Inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) belong to the armament for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and as such, they are widely used in real life. This is a narrative review on evidence-based papers published in the English language listed in Medline between 1990 and March 2016 discussing ICS application in COPD. Recent meta-analyses clearly show that ICSs are able to decrease the rate of exacerbation and to delay the decline of lung function, although they do not prolong life, nor stop the progression of the disease. ICSs are included in guidelines for COPD treatment, exclusively in combination with bronch-15 odilators. However, adverse effects as pneumonia, cataracts, osteoporosis, etc. seem obvious. Newer studies show that patients with COPD are not a homogeneous population, and recently several phenotypes were identified, including asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS), among others. The efficacy of ICSs seems to be unequal for different subpopulations of patients with COPD and further research is needed to address a personalized approach in the treatment of COPD patients, and to 20 identify predictors for ICS treatment success. Usage of ICSs in patients with COPD needs to be précised especially in patients with COPD without asthma.
Controlling the type I and type II errors in mapping quantitative trait loci.

Although the interval mapping method is widely used for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs), it is not very well suited for mapping multiple QTLs. Here, we present the results of a computer simulation to study the application of exact and approximate models for multiple QTLs. In particular, we focus on an automatic two-stage procedure in which in the first stage "important" markers are selected in multiple regression on markers. In the second stage a QTL is moved along the chromosomes by using the preselected markers as cofactors, except for the markers flanking the interval under study. A refined procedure for cases with large numbers of marker cofactors is described. Our approach will be called MQM mapping, where MQM is an acronym for "multiple-QTL models" as well as for "marker-QTL-marker. " Our simulation work demonstrates the great advantage of MQM mapping compared to interval mapping in reducing the chance of a type I error (i.e., a QTL is indicated at a location where actually no QTL is present) and in reducing the chance of a type II error (i.e., a QTL is not detected).
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant in Adolescent and Young Adults With Fanconi Anemia Is Feasible With Acceptable Toxicity, With Those Surviving 100 Days Posttransplant Having Excellent Outcomes.

OBJECTIVES Fanconi anemia is a congenital bone marrow failure syndrome that is associated with congenital anomalies and increased risk of cancer. Hematopoietic stem cell transplant is a potentially curative modality for bone marrow failure in Fanconi anemia patients. Here, we report our center's experience regarding adolescent and young adult patients with Fanconi anemia and hematopoietic stem cell transplant. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted a retrospective patient record analyses of patients who presented at our center from 1988 to 2014. We included patients greater than 14 years old with confirmed Fanconi anemia based on positive chromosome breakage study and who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplant at our institution. RESULTS Our study group comprised 12 patients with Fanconi anemia who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplant at our institution. The median age was 20 years (range, 14-31 y) with a female predominance of 83%. Low-dose cyclophosphamide (20-80 mg/kg)-based conditioning regimens were used with different combinations that included fludarabine, antithymocyte globulin, or total body irradiation. All patients had HLA-matched sibling grafts. In all patients, stem cell source was the bone marrow. All patients showed engraftment. Four patients (33%) developed acute graft-versus-host disease. Three patients (25%) died early before day 100 after hematopoietic stem cell transplant due to infectious complications, with 1 patient having steroid refractory acute graft-versus-host disease. Overall survival was 75% at a median follow-up of 43 months. All patients who survived are well and remained transfusion independent without evidence of secondary malignancy. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support the feasibility of reduced intensity conditioning allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant in older and more heavily pretreated patients with Fanconi anemia, especially for those who are engrafted.
Chronic immune‐related demyelinating neuropathies

In recent years many important advances have been made in the knowledge of the mechanisms that may produce peripheral nerve damage. Data in the literature indicate that in some chronic demyelinating neuropathy autoantibodies against myelin antigens may play a pathogenic role. The pathogenic role of T cells, cytokines, complement, and class II molecules has also been studied. Identification of specific immune‐related demyelinating polyneuropathies provides clues to future therapeutic approaches. This paper focuses on the chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, chronic demyelinating neuropathies associated with monoclonal gammapathies of undetermined significance, and multifocal motor neuropathy, and reviews their clinical, patophysiological and immunological features.
ISO 37500 – Comparing outsourcing life-cycle models

Purpose This paper aims to illustrate the value of the outsourcing life cycle, as described in several industry models, including ISO 37500. Design/methodology/approach The authors present a comparison of outsourcing life cycles to provide an overview of current practices in the global outsourcing industry. Findings Several outsourcing life cycles have been defined by industry associations such as the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) and the National Outsourcing Association (NOA). Academic research has created several outsourcing life cycles, notably the model from the London School of Economics (Cullen and Willcocks, 2005). Finally, commercial models have been defined, for example the Vendor and Sourcing Management model from IDC (2014). Research limitations/implications Researchers will find the overview of different life cycles useful in assessing maturity of outsourcing organizations. Practical implications Practitioners will find the detailed description of ISO 37500 and the comparative life cycles to be illustrative of different approaches to managing outsourcing transactions. Both buyers and providers will be able to compare their own life cycle to industry standards. Originality/value Little or no research has been conducted on how outsourcing life cycles contribute to effective outsourcing. This paper provides a foundation for such research.