Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acquisition of Polyfunctionality by Epstein-Barr Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cells Correlates with Increased Resistance to Galectin-1-Mediated Suppression

ABSTRACT Latent membrane antigen 1 and -2 (LMP-1/2)-specific CD8+ T cells from newly diagnosed and relapsed Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients display a selective functional impairment. In contrast, CD8+ T cells specific for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear proteins and lytic antigens retain normal T-cell function. Reversion to a dysfunctional phenotype of LMP-1/2-specific T cells is coincident with the regression of HL. To delineate the potential basis for this differential susceptibility for the loss of function, we have carried out a comprehensive functional analysis of EBV-specific T cells using ex vivo multiparametric flow cytometry in combination with assessment of antigen-driven proliferative potential. This analysis revealed that LMP-1/2-specific T cells from healthy virus carriers display a deficient polyfunctional profile compared to that of T cells specific for epitopes derived from EBV nuclear proteins and lytic antigens. Furthermore, LMP-specific T-cells are highly susceptible to galectin-1-mediated immunosuppression and are less likely to degranulate following exposure to cognate peptide epitopes and poorly recognized endogenously processed epitopes from virus-infected B cells. More importantly, ex vivo stimulation of these T cells with an adenoviral vector encoding multiple minimal CD8+ T-cell epitopes as a polyepitope, in combination with a γC cytokine, interleukin-2, restored polyfunctionality and shielded these cells from the inhibitory effects of galectin-1.
Effect of Water Miscible Organic Solvents on p-Nitrophenol Hydroxylase (CYP2E1) Activity in Rat Liver Microsomes

Organic solvents used for solubilization of the substrates/NCEs are known to affect the activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes. Further, this effect varies with the solvents used, the substrates and CYP450 isoforms in question. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of ten commonly used water miscible organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, acetonitrile, acetone, dimethyl sulphoxide, N,N-dimethyl formamide, dioxane and polyethylene glycol 400) on p-nitrophenol hydroxylase activity at 0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1% v/v concentration in rat liver microsomes. All the solvents studied showed concentration dependent inhibition of the p-nitrophenol hydroxylase activity except acetonitrile which showed activation of the activity at concentration range studied. Out of ten solvents studied, dioxane was found to be the most inhibitory solvent (inhibition >90% at 0.25% v/v concentration). Overall, solvents like dimethyl sulphoxide, dimethyl formamide and dioxane appeared to be unsuitable for characterizing p-nitrophenol hydroxylase (CYP2E1-mediated) reactions due to a high degree of inhibition. On the other hand, methanol and acetonitrile at concentrations <0.5% v/v appeared to be appropriate solvents for substrate solubilization while evaluating CYP2E1-mediated catalysis. The results of this study imply that caution should be exercised while choosing solvents for dissolution of substrate during enzyme studies in liver microsomes.
EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF NEUROFIBRILLARY DEGENERATION: 2. ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, PHOSPHATASE HISTOCHEMISTRY AND ELECTRON PROSE ANALYSIS

1. Electron microscopy has demonstrated the fibrillar content of the neuronal lesions in rabbits treated with alum phosphate. 2. The filaments involved in these Alzheimer-like tangles are less than 150 Å wide, have side branches, and are perhaps tubular. They are similar to the filaments found in the human disease. 3. Traces of aluminum were found in the affected rabbit neurons by the Philips Electron Probe Analyzer. Neither aluminum nor other elements were found by similar analysis of human neurofibrillary tangles. 4. The alum-induced tangles are contrasted with the lesions in distended axons of rats treated with imidodiproprionitrile.
Rickets in a Gazelle: a Case Report

The purpose of this study was to determine some clinical, radiological, haematological and biochemical findings in a female gazelle, 9 months old, with rickets. In clinical examination, the animal was unable to stand up easily, its legs were bent and walking was difficult. The medullar cannals were wide and the cortex was thin in the long bones on the radiogram. The Ca level (6.8 mg/dl) was found to be within the minimum normal limits in the biochemical examinations of blood serum. Also, serum P level (1.6 mg/dl) was ascertained to be markedly lower than normal levels. In addition, serum ALP activity (3609 IU/L) was clearly higher than normal values. The range of Ca/P was calculated as 4.25/1. But other haematological and biochemical parameters were found to be within normal values reported in gazelles.
Collection and marketing of non-timber forest products by the Chepang community in Chitwan district of Nepal

Chepangs are highly marginalized indigenous nationalities of Nepal, who live nearby the forests that are rich in Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) of commercial importance. These NTFPs can be a potential source of income for Chepangs. This study describes the role of Chepangs in the marketing channel of those NTFPs and analyses the household socio-economic characteristics that influence the collection and marketing of NTFPs by Chepangs in Shaktikhor VDC of Chitwan district using backward multiple regression method. Empirical evidences show that collection and marketing of NTFPs is not an attractive source of income especially for those relatively better-off Chepang households who possess higher landholdings, food self-sufficiency, and income from other alternative sources. This is because the current price offered for the NTFPs collected by the community is very nominal, that do not even cover the labour costs involved. Praja Cooperative Limited (PCL), a Chepang community based institution in Shaktikhor, is struggling to provide better prices for Chepangs. However, it is facing challenges due to limited institutional management capacity of Chepangs. Further empowerment of PCL can contribute to improve the bargaining power of Chepang community in NTFP trade.
Hyposmia Is Associated with RBD for PD Patients with Variants of SNCA

Objective: Hyposmia may occur simultaneously with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) as a specific phenotype in Parkinson's Diseases (PD), of which the disease progression is fast. In the study, we tried to identify whether the genotypic characteristics could participate in the co-occurrence of hyposmia and RBD in PD patients. Methods: 152 PD patients were recruited from the Department of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine from 2011 to 2016, with comprehensive clinical assessment performing. Two SNPs of SNCA (rs11931074 and rs894278) in 105 patients were also analyzed. Results: Overall, 84 of 152 PD patients (55.3%) were diagnosed with RBD after PSG evaluation. After regression analysis, higher levels of three parts of UPDRS and SCOPA-AUT scores were all associated with increased risk of RBD in PD patients, respectively. While for olfactory function, we didn't find significant correlation between hyposmia and RBD in PD patients. However, we found that in the group of minor G allele of rs894278, patients with lower score of SS-16 had a 4.76-fold risk of suffering from RBD in patients (95% CI: 1.39–16.67; p = 0.013). Furthermore, we analyzed SNP associated gene expression by eQTL analysis in Genevar database and found that GG genotype of rs894278 was associated with higher levels of α-synuclein in Nerve tissue (p = 1.5E-8) while TT genotype of rs11931074 was associated with higher levels of α-synuclein in Brain (p = 0.0082), which suggesting a potential functional relevance with different symptoms of PD. Conclusions: Hyposmia was associated with RBD in PD patients with the minor G allele of rs894278, which represent one specific subtype of PD. This study could provide more detail information about PD subtype of RBD with hyposmia in the future.
Governance Practices of Indian Firms: An Empirical Analysis

This paper examines the impact of corporate governance (CG) on financial performance (FP) considering the endogeneity between governance and firm characteristics using a sample of large listed Indian firms from 2008 to 2011. We construct a "CG Index" based on six important governance mechanisms covering a total of 44 attributes affecting the governance of Indian companies. The panel data regression is employed for empirical analysis. The results indicate that CG has a strong influence on performance of Indian firms. We also find that firms with promoter dominated boards and lower leverage report better performance while firm size negatively impacts performance.
The impact of housing assistance on the employment and wage outcomes of labour market program participants

This paper examines the employment and wage outcomes of Australians undertaking Mutual Obligation Activities (MOAs). Specifically, it considers whether the outcomes for MOA participants vary according to whether they receive housing assistance. The research is motivated by evidence from the US which often identifies superior employment and earnings outcomes of welfare recipients living in public or assisted housing. The paper utilizes all four waves of data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) database. In Australia, direct housing subsidies can be received in one of two main forms: public housing; or Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA). Either of these forms of assistance might blunt work incentives as individuals lose eligibility for assistance once their income reaches a certain threshold. On the other hand, housing subsidies can promote employment outcomes, by lifting those in precarious housing circumstances into more secure and affordable housing. Preliminary results suggest that housing subsidies have little impact (either negative or positive) on the employment outcomes of MOA participants. Further, there is evidence that outcomes for MOA participants undertaking employment and community participation programs and training programs are inferior to those MOA participants undertaking employment assistance programs.
Governance and Control for Firms in Transition

This paper provides a very brief review of the corporate governance literature, pointing out some of its problems and shortcomings. We then redefine the firm as a nexus of investments, rather than a nexus of contracts. With this new view, the claims of many of the firm’s participants become more clearly focused. Additionally, attention is directed away from shareholders and toward the providers of firm-specific resources important to competitive advantage. Using the nexus of investments perspective, we consider the case of firms in transition – defined as firms that are making discontinuous changes in their nexus of investments. Most frequently, these firms seek outside capital, but they also often seek outside executives, new suppliers, and new partners. We develop a set of propositions that refine our nexus of investments perspective among firms in transition, and to guide research in corporate governance generally and firms in transition specifically.
The effect of graphic cigarette warning labels on smoking behavior: evidence from the Canadian experience.

INTRODUCTION There is a substantial literature that graphic tobacco warnings are effective; however, there is limited evidence based on actual smoking behavior. The objective of this paper is to assess the effect of graphic cigarette warning labels on smoking prevalence and quit attempts. METHODS A nationally representative sample of individuals aged 15 years and older from the Canadian National Population Health Survey 1998-2008 is used. The sample consists of 4,853 individuals for the smoking prevalence regression and 1,549 smokers for quit attempts. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) model was used to examine the population-averaged (marginal) effects of tobacco graphic warnings on smoking prevalence and quit attempts. To assess the effect of graphic tobacco health warnings on smoking behavior, we used a scaled variable that takes the value of 0 for the first 6 months in 2001, then increases gradually to 1 from December 2001. RESULTS We found that graphic warnings had a statistically significant effect on smoking prevalence and quit attempts. In particular, the warnings decreased the odds of being a smoker (odds ratio [OR] = 0.875; 95% CI = 0.821-0.932) and increased the odds of making a quit attempt (OR = 1.330, CI = 1.187-1.490). Similar results were obtained when we allowed for more time for the warnings to appear in retail outlets. CONCLUSION This study adds to the growing body of evidence on the effectiveness of graphic warnings. Our findings suggest that warnings had a significant effect on smoking prevalence and quit attempts in Canada.
Expenditure Decentralization and the Delivery of Public Services in Developing Countries

This two-part paper provides a theoretical framework for appraising trade-offs between alternative methods of delegating authority over the delivery of public services, on the targeting and cost-effectiveness of public spending programs in developing countries. Authority over these programs has to be delegated owing to absence of information at the central level concerning local needs and costs of specific communities. In a top-down centralized system, this authority is delegated to bureaucrats by a central government that has limited ability to monitor their performance with respect to either service delivery or cost control. In a decentralized system, it is allocated instead to elected local governments or client groups, which may be subject to capture by local elites. Both systems are thus prone to local corruption and lack of accountability. Part 1 of the paper studies the relevant tradeoffs in the context of a poverty alleviation program, whose aim is to deliver a private merit good available on competitive markets to the poor. Decentralization generally dominates with respect to inter-community targeting as well as cost-effectiveness. However, the ranking of intracommunity targeting under the two systems is ambiguous, and depends on the relative degree of capture that local and national governments are prone to, besides the nature of uncertainty and preferences of the good by the nonpoor. Part 2 of the paper considers an infrastructure service provided by a public enterprise which has a natural monopoly. In this context it is shown that decentralization dominates if the following four conditions are satisfied: (i) local governments are not vulnerable to capture; (ii) local governments have access to adequate local financing sources; (iii) there are no interjurisdictional externalities in service provision; and (iv) local governments have all the bargaining power and access to relevant cost information vis-a-vis public enterprise managers. Absent any one of these institutional conditions, however, decentralization may perform worse than centralization. The Appendix develops a model of electoral competition (adapted from Grossman-Helpman (1996)) where parties are prone to capture by special interest groups, which helps identify some of the institutional determinants of the degree of capture of local and central governments.
Long Term Operating Performance of Acquiring Firms in Emerging Markets: The Corporate Governance Issues

This paper determines the effect of ownership structure, governance mechanisms, and legal systems on long term operating performance of acquiring firms in emerging countries. The current work investigates the performance of sixty-nine merger and acquisition deals in emerging market countries. The major finding is that the acquiring firms with controlling shareholders (especially holding ownership between 25%-30%) improve post acquisition operating performance over three years after transaction. Board composition indexes for acquiring firms in emerging countries are more influential to post acquisition performance than those of CEO position and block-holders. Value creating deals associate with higher quality accounting standards and superior investor protection of emerging market countries. Too strong legal enforcement seemingly leads to greater value destruction, and legal origin has a varying influence on corporate performance. However, significant superior investment performance does not exist in acquiring firms from emerging countries classified as English legal origin but in those classified as German legal origin.
Study of Antigen-Processing Steps Reveals Preferences Explaining Differential Biological Outcomes of Two HLA-A2-Restricted Immunodominant Epitopes from Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1

ABSTRACT Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses directed to different human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epitopes vary in their protective efficacy. In particular, HIV-infected cells are much more sensitive to lysis by anti-Gag/p17(77-85)/HLA-A2 than to that by anti-polymerase/RT(476-484)/HLA-A2 CTL, because of a higher density of p17(77-85) complexes. This report describes multiple processing steps favoring the generation of p17(77-85) complexes: (i) the exact COOH-terminal cleavage of epitopes by cellular proteases occurred faster and more frequently for p17(77-85) than for RT(476-484), and (ii) the binding efficiency of the transporter associated with antigen processing was greater for p17(77-85) precursors than for the RT(476-484) epitope. Surprisingly, these peptides, which differed markedly in their antigenicity, displayed qualitatively and quantitatively similar immunogenicity, suggesting differences in the mechanisms governing these phenomena. Here, we discuss the mechanisms responsible for such differences.
Comparison of two patient-controlled analgesia techniques on neuropsychological functioning in the immediate postoperative period

Pain may contribute to cognitive decline, which is a common complication in the early postoperative period. We compared the effects of two common pain management techniques, intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA-IV) and patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA), on cognitive functioning in the immediate postoperative period. Patients hospitalized for elective surgery were randomly assigned to one of the treatment groups (30 patients per group). A battery of objective, standardized neuropsychological tests was administered preoperatively and 24 hours after surgery. Pain intensity was also evaluated. Nonoperated volunteers served as controls. Patients of the PCA-IV group exhibited significantly higher pain scores than did patients of the PCEA group. PCA-IV patients exhibited significant deterioration in the postoperative period in all the neuropsychological measures, while the PCEA patients exhibited significant deterioration only in one cognitive index, compared to controls.
Identify Key Sequence Features to Improve CRISPR sgRNA Efficacy

The CRISPR/Cas9 system is a creative and innovative gene editing biotechnology tool in genetic engineering. Although several achievements have been attained using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, it is still a challenge to avoid off-target effects and improve the editing efficacy. Previous efforts on evaluating the efficacy and designing the guide RNA mainly focused on DNA properties. However, some DNA features have not been characterized but can be reflected by protein properties, such as the disorder features and the sequence conservation. In this paper, we provided a computational framework to identify important features related to the efficacy of CRISPR/Cas9 focusing on the properties of the proteins encoded by the target DNA fragments. The feature selection method, maximal-relevance-minimal-redundancy, was adopted to analyze these features. And incremental feature selection together with support vector machine, were employed to extract optimal features, on which an optimal classifier can be constructed. As a result, 152 important features were extracted, with which an optimal classifier based on support vector machine was built. This classifier obtained the highest MCC value of 0.355. Finally, a series of detailed biological analyses were performed on the optimal features. From the results, we found that some key factors may differentially affect the binding activity of sgRNAs to their targets. Among them, the disorder status of the target protein sequences was found to be a major factor that is related to the efficacy of sgRNAs, suggesting the DNA features associated with the protein disorder status could also affect the CRISPR/Cas9 efficacy.
Evaluating strategic project and portfolio performance

To assess performance at the portfolio level, it is vital to measure the performance of individual projects and consolidate the measurements in a mathematically meaningful way that reflects the strategic importance of the member projects. Beyond the traditional metrics, obvious questions are how to: (1) derive project strategic performance using traditional performance measurements, (2) synthesise individual project measurements into meaningful strategic performance measurements at the portfolio level, and (3) assess current project and portfolio strategic performance with respect to continued expectation of achieving strategic objectives as they progress through implementation. This article proposes solutions for the first two questions and suggests a means of approaching the third.
First Isolation of Neospora caninum From the Feces of a Naturally Infected Dog

Neospora caninum is a major cause of abortion in cattle worldwide. Cattle become infected with N. caninum by ingesting oocysts from the environment or transplacentally from dam to fetus. Experimentally, dogs can act as definitive hosts, but dogs excrete few oocysts after ingesting tissue cysts. A natural definitive host was unknown until now. In the present study, N. caninum was isolated from the feces of a dog. Gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) fed feces from the dog developed antibodies to N. caninum in the Neospora caninum agglutination test, and tissue cysts were found in their brains. Neospora caninum was isolated in cell culture and in gamma-interferon gene knockout mice inoculated with brain homogenates of infected gerbils. The DNA obtained from fecal oocysts of the dog, from the brains of gerbils fed dog feces, and from organisms isolated in cell cultures inoculated with gerbil brains was confirmed as N. caninum. The identification of N. caninum oocyst by bioassay and polymerase chain reaction demonstrates that the dog is a natural definitive host for N. caninum.