Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IL-17-producing T cells in lupus nephritis

Significant evidence implicates interleukin-17 (IL-17) in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), particularly in the development of tissue damage. IL-17 production and IL-17-producing CD4+ and CD3 + CD4−CD8− cells are increased in patients with SLE. IL-17-producing cells are present in the inflamed kidney tissues from patients with lupus nephritis. In lupus-prone mice, IL-17 production appears to be involved in the expression of disease pathology and pharmacologic or genetic manipulation of its production results in suppression of the disease. It becomes obvious that the use of biologics including humanized anti-IL-17 antibodies or decoy IL-17 receptors deserve clinical consideration. Similarly, the development of drugs that suppress the production of IL-17 is in order.
Antecedents of Professional Commitment

Despite the increasing attention of organizational commitment in the management literature, most studies predominantly focus on full-time workers in traditional work settings. The results of this study highlight important directions for implementing strategies to increase casual academic’s organizational commitment. Organization commitment is important because it is known association with other important org anizational variables such as turnover, absenteeism and work effort. This study provides the first step in better understanding the factors that affect the organization commitment.
Country Image: Halo or Summary Construct?

The author examines the role of country image in consumer evaluations of television sets and automobiles. Specifically, two alternative causal models are developed and tested: (1) the halo model hypothesizing that country image serves as a halo in product evaluation and (2) the summary construct model hypothesizing that country image functions as a summary construct. The test results indicate that when consumers are not familiar with a country's products, country image may serve as a halo from which consumers infer a brand's product attributes and which affects their attitude toward the brand indirectly through product attribute rating. In contrast, as consumers become familiar with a country's products, country image may become a construct that summarizes consumers’ beliefs about product attributes and directly affects their attitude toward the brand.
Analyzing the Establishment of Community Forestry (CF) and Its Processes Examples from the South West Region of Cameroon

This paper reconstructs and analyzes the establishment of the Community Forestry (CF) processes in Cameroon, questioning the extent to which the CF models can act as a decentralization and devolution tool. It includes community based natural resource management through programs/projects emphasizing biodiversity conservation and sustainable forest management directly involving the local communities. Thirteen communities were explored in the South West Region (SWR) of Cameroon. Samples selection was based on information about recent activities of the communities in the CF process. From this population, a simple random selection and later quantitative and qualitative interviews were carried out with more than 70 different stakeholders through their networking and interest representation in CF. Analysis show that the CF process is centralized, slow, long, complex and expensive, making it difficult for local communities to be an active part in policy implementation. Results also confirm that decentralization and devolution for sustainable local forest governance could offer the communities an opportunity to derive livelihoods from their forests, but the models and processes have also inhibited them through centralized control of the state and its development partners. Furthermore, it shows that CF as a decentralization tool has not really functioned.
Information technology applications and competitive advantage in hotel companies

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a conceptual framework that illustrates how information technology (IT) applications may lead to competitive advantage in hotel companies.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is written based on a synthesis of previous literature in this area.Findings – Multiple areas need to be carefully evaluated in developing and implementing IT projects so that they can lead to competitive advantage in hotel companies. There are four closely related areas when analyzing IT decisions in hotels, which include coherence between the business strategy and IT decision, types of IT applications, intended benefits of IT decisions, and decision‐making style. Technology sophistication, management skills, and integration of resources are key issues when implementing IT decisions. Investments into IT applications in hotel companies can lead to superior IT competencies and IT capabilities, which can subsequently result in lower cost, agility, innovation, added value for customers, and better.
Intermunicipal cooperation and privatization of solid waste services among small municipalities in Spain

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of intermunicipal cooperation and privatization on the delivery costs of urban solid waste services. The results of our empirical analysis, which we conducted among a sample of very small municipalities, indicate that small towns that cooperate incur lower costs for their waste collection service. Cooperation also raises collection frequency and improves the quality of the service in small towns. By contrast, the form of production, whether it is public or private, does not result in systematic differences in costs. Interestingly, the degree of population dispersion has a significant positive relation with service costs.No evidence of scale economies is found because, it would seem, small municipalities exploit them by means of intermunicipal cooperation.
Organizational Climate a Tool for Achieving Employees Job Satisfaction in Ghanaian Manufacturing Firms

The working environment of employees has significant consequences for both individuals and organizations. It has the potential to affect the attitudes of employees. Considering the importance of human capital in the 21 st century, many researchers and human resource practitioners have explained that companies focus on how to achieve the satisfaction of their employees. The primary purpose of this research paper is to investigate employees’ perception of their working environment and how the different dimensions of organizational climate affect their job satisfaction. The study examines the following research questions: What are the perceptions of employees regarding their work settings? What are the sources of employees’ job satisfaction in the manufacturing industry and what organizational atmosphere contribute(s) to employees’ job satisfaction? To address these concerns, two hundred and five (205) employees are chosen from some selected manufacturing firms in Ghana through convenience and purposive sampling techniques. Correlations are run to generate the interrelationship existing among the dimensions of organizational climate and how each is related to employees’ job satisfaction. The results of the study show that certain dimensions of organizational climate such as identity, conflict management and rewards do have relationship with job satisfaction. Thus employees in the manufacturing sector are more satisfied with the organizations whose mission and objectives are in congruence with the employees’ personal beliefs. Managers are encouraged to focus on articulating the mission of the organization but also stimulate dynamic and high sense of employees’ identification. Fairness in conflict handling procedures as well as equity and transparency in compensation systems is equally recommended as strategies to adopt to foster and increase job satisfaction.
Factor Affecting the Participation of Rural Women in Agricultural Activities

The present study was carried out in Hoshangabad, Babai and Kesla blocks of Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. A simple random sampling procedure was followed in order to obtain the appropriate sample of rural women. The total sample size was 144. The dependent variable was participation of rural women in agricultural activities. The independent variables were relating to socio-personal, socio-economic, communicational and psychological traits of rural women such as caste, education, marital status, farming experience, annual income, occupation, economic status, land holding, extension participation, extension contact, source of information, mass media exposure, level of aspiration, scientific orientation, attitude towards agriculture and knowledge about agricultural activities. The data were collected by personal interview technique with the help of structured interview schedule. The data were analyzed using statistical methods such as correlation and regression analysis. The traits like education, farming experience, economic status, extension participation, source of information, mass media exposure, level of aspiration, scientific orientation, attitude towards agriculture and knowledge about agricultural activities exhibited positive and strong correlation with level of participation and occupation of the rural women also positively related with level of participation. About 85.92 per cent variation in the extent of participation of rural women in agricultural activities was explained by all the 16 traits taken into consideration. Education, farming experience, economic status, extension participation, source of information, mass media exposure, level of aspiration, scientific orientation, attitude towards agriculture and knowledge about agricultural activities significantly influenced the extent of participation of rural women in agricultural activities.
Market Reaction, Revised Proceeds, and the Classification of Seasoned Equity Offerings

Registrations of SEOs serve to galvanize information gathering about issuers. We posit that market reaction to new information influences issuers’ decision about their final offer size. The offer size relative to the amount filed initially is a parsimonious measure which helps predict subsequent firm performance. Improved offerings, whose offer size exceeds the amount registered originally, record significantly positive price reaction on the offer date and do not underperform post-issuance. Conversely their complement, Regular offers, experience significantly negative reaction on the offer date and underperform their benchmark following issuance. Improved SEO firms make relatively higher investments and generate stronger institutional demand.
Why don't buyers like electronic reverse auctions? Some insights from a French study

This article aims to illustrate the resistance to change from the buyers' side that is related to the application of electronic reverse auction (ERA) in organisations. Our article focuses on the relation between the tool and the buyers. ERA brings significant changes to the purchasing process. When the method is introduced to the field, the resistance to change occurs not only from the suppliers' side, but also from the buyers' side. It seems that many buyers do not like ERA, and most of them will not use ERA spontaneously. There is a reluctance to change from the buyer's side, both at the pilot phase and sporadic phase. From this exploratory research, we also identify six reasons for this reluctance. This conclusion is deduced from a qualitative survey carried out with ERA experts from top retailer groups (Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, Castorama) and two e-procurement consulting companies in France.
Using triangulation and multiple case studies to advance relationship marketing theory

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the contribution of qualitative methods and techniques in extending the understanding of relationship marketing theory.Design/methodology/approach – The study investigated six Australian sporting organisations using multiple data collection methods including semi‐structured interviews with several senior executives within each organisation, secondary and historical data sources and participant observation. The application of triangulation and multiple case studies is discussed in relation to their contribution toward a greater understanding of relationship marketing practice in the professional sport industry, as well as the barriers to the adoption of this strategy.Findings – Using triangulation and a multiple case study approach provided a richness of information which, upon analysis within and across cases, revealed a number of commonalities and some limited diversity. Using this approach maximised the depth of information and increased the transfer.
IMA901: a peptide vaccine in renal cell carcinoma

Introduction: Immunotherapy has always been a promising therapeutic approach in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) with frequently observed long-term responders. Since then, immunotherapy emerged from rather unspecific approaches to a specific stimulation of the immune system by tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) in therapeutic vaccination trials. Current vaccine trials are mainly based on the unspecific stimulation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) by tumor cell lysates with not clearly defined TAAs. Areas covered: IMA901 is a novel synthetic off-the-shelf vaccine consisting of 10 different tumor-associated peptides (TUMAPs), which has entered a Phase III trial. The preceding Phase I and II trials demonstrated a clear association of a clinical benefit in mRCC patients with an immunological response to the administered TUMAPs. Expert opinion: IMA901 is a first-in-class drug, which is administered together with GM-CSF and single-dose cyclophosphamide. This triumvirate of vaccine, a local and a systemic immunomodulator showed an improved clinical benefit in mRCC patients. This interplay effectively activated cytotoxic T cells. Future strategies will lead to improved local immunomodulators to boost the activation of APCs, systemic immunomodulators to suppress Tregs and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and antigens of higher cancer specificity and immunogenicity, together with an optimal schedule and dosage of the vaccine.
Dual-Band and Dual-Sense Omnidirectional Circularly Polarized Antenna

A circularly polarized (CP) dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) loaded with a modified circular patch is proposed for dual-band applications. The antenna is centrally fed by a probe, giving omnidirectional patterns with different senses of circular polarization in two bands. It is observed that the lower and upper bands are controlled by the patch and dielectric resonator (DR), respectively, making design of the dual-band antenna very easy. For demonstration, a prototype has been designed, fabricated, and measured. The antenna features 10-dB impedance bandwidths of 2.64% and 18.03% and 3-dB axial-ratio (AR) bandwidths of 3.16% and 5.06% in lower and upper frequency bands, respectively.
DC performance of deep submicrometer Schottky-gated n-channel Si:SiGe HFETs at low temperatures

N-type Schottky-gated Si:SiGe heterostructure field-effect transistors with physical gate lengths between 70 and 450nm are characterized over a wide temperature range (T=10 K.300 K) for low electric fields. The room-temperature maximum low-field transconductance increases 61% to 440 mS/mm at T=10 K for the 70-nm device. The minimum subthreshold slope is 14.19 mV/dec at T=10 K. The off-state currents I/sub OFF/ are limited by parallel conduction at high temperatures and by the gate leakage current at low temperatures. Substrate leakage currents are found to be due to generation of carriers within the drain/substrate depletion layer and only make a minor contribution to I/sub OFF/. Operation of the devices at the lowest temperature is found to result in the occurrence of the floating-body kink effect, as a consequence of substrate freeze-out and subsequent self-biasing by impact ionization currents. Low temperature characteristics exhibit a nonlinear low-field drain current dependence on the drain voltage, due to the presence of parasitic Schottky source/drain contacts. An extraction method for access resistance consistent with this phenomenon is presented.
Precisely Tracking Childhood Death

Abstract. Little is known about the specific causes of neonatal and under-five childhood death in high-mortality geographic regions due to a lack of primary data and dependence on inaccurate tools, such as verbal autopsy. To meet the ambitious new Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 to eliminate preventable child mortality in every country, better approaches are needed to precisely determine specific causes of death so that prevention and treatment interventions can be strengthened and focused. Minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) is a technique that uses needle-based postmortem sampling, followed by advanced histopathology and microbiology to definitely determine cause of death. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting a new surveillance system called the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance network, which will determine cause of death using MITS in combination with other information, and yield cause-specific population-based mortality rates, eventually in up to 12–15 sites in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. However, the Gates Foundation funding alone is not enough. We call on governments, other funders, and international stakeholders to expand the use of pathology-based cause of death determination to provide the information needed to end preventable childhood mortality.
Defining the Content of Sustainability Reports in Nonprofit Organizations: Do Stakeholders Really Matter?

The aim of the article is to investigate the role of stakeholder engagement and participation in nonprofit organizations’ sustainability reporting, according to the literature on third sector and stakeholder theory. To verify the levels of involvement, the authors conducted an empirical survey, using content analysis, on a sample of 54 sustainability reports of nonprofit organizations included in the Global Reporting Initiative database as of September 1, 2012. In order to strengthen the results obtained from the content analysis, the authors shared their findings with the organizations of the sample. The survey showed that there were some criticisms regarding stakeholder participation in the targeted research field. These are considered in the conclusions. Questions for the future included whether stakeholder engagement is moving from being simply a way to consult and influence stakeholders to being an effective instrument for involving them in nonprofit organizations’ reporting and decision-making processes, through mutual commitment.
Effectiveness of Foreign Exchange Intervention: Evidence from Pakistan

This study addresses the question of whether intervention in foreign exchange market in Pakistan has been successful in either altering the exchange rate level or smoothing the exchange rate fluctuations. We apply GARCH model and the methodology of event study on the daily exchange rate and intervention to address the question. We find the evidence of effectiveness of official intervention on exchange rate level as well as on the variance.
The cellular basis of the genetically determined hemopoietic defect in anemic mice of genotype Sl-Sld.

Reproduced by copyright permission of the American Society of Hematology (www.hematology.org). All of Blood's back content becomes free to anybody in the world, whether or not associated with a subscribing library, as soon as it is 12 months old (see www.hematology.org/government/policy/open_access.cfm).
Standardization of Process Line for Preparation of Unripe Banana Shrikhand

The present investigation entitled "Standardization of process line for preparation of unripe banana shrikhand" was undertaken in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Science, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, during the year 2013-2014. The efforts were made to incorporate the nutritional value of banana in shrikhand and prepared the value added fermented dairy product. The investigation was planned with main objectives to standardize the process line for preparation of shrikhand, to standardize the optimum level of unripe banana pulp in shrikhand, sensory evaluation and determination of cost of production of shrikhand. Before blending unripe banana was cooked at 90°C for 5 min. and prepare paste which improves sensory quality of shrikhand. It was found that blending of 20 per cent unripe banana in shrikhand produce a good and more acceptable quality shrikhand. Cost of production was reduced due to increase in the level of unripe banana pulp in shrikhand.
Validity of a portable computer‐based ultrasound system for estimating adipose tissue in female gymnasts

The aim of this investigation was to determine the validity of a portable ultrasound instrument for estimating adipose tissue (AT%) compared to dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) in female collegiate gymnasts. Participants had their measurements taken in the following order: urine‐specific gravity, body mass, height, ultrasound determined AT% (1‐site and 3‐site) and DXA determined AT%. The current pilot study found significant differences between estimates of AT% (P < 0·001). Pearson's correlations between DXA and 1‐site and 3‐site estimates were r = 0·786 and r = 0·753, respectively. The standard error of the estimate between DXA and 1‐site and 3‐site estimates was 3·6% and 3·9%, respectively. However, the average deviation of individual scores from the line of identity was 6·7% for the 1‐site and 4·9% for the 3‐site, when compared with the DXA estimate. The results of this preliminary study found that the portable ultrasound was not a valid estimate of AT% when compared with the DXA estimate in female collegiate gymnasts.
Psychophysiological response patterns in migraine patients

Cardiovascular responses to strong auditory stimulation were compared in common migraine patients and controls. Two matched groups of eight subjects participated in two laboratory sessions. During each session, baseline recording of the cardiovascular variables was followed by twenty auditory stimuli (95 dB, 1000 Hz), sounded at irregular intervals. Phasic responses in heart rate and pulse wave amplitudes in the superficial temporal arteries were measured. A post stimulation sampling period ended each session. Different cardiovascular response patterns were found in the two groups. The migraine patients showed more pronounced heart rate responses and slower habituation to stimulation. Stronger pulse wave amplitude reduction during stimulation and an increase during the post stimulation period was also found in the migraine group.