Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cannabinoid Inhibition of Macrophage Migration to the Trans-Activating (Tat) Protein of HIV-1 Is Linked to the CB2 Cannabinoid Receptor

Macrophages and macrophage-like cells are important targets of HIV-1 infection at peripheral sites and in the central nervous system. After infection, these cells secrete a plethora of toxic factors, including the viral regulatory trans-activating protein (Tat). This protein is highly immunogenic and also serves as a potent chemoattractant for monocytes. In the present study, the exogenous cannabinoids δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and (−)-cis-3-[2-hydroxy-4-(1,1-dimethylheptyl)phenyl]-trans-4-(3-hydroxypropyl) cyclohexanol (CP55940) were shown to significantly inhibit migration of human U937 macrophage-like cells to the Tat protein in a concentration-related manner. The CB1 receptor-selective agonist N-(2-chloroethyl)-5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z-eicosatetraenamide (ACEA) had no effect on Tat-mediated migration. In contrast, the CB2 receptor-selective agonist (1R,3R)-1-[4-(1,1-dimethylheptyl)-2,6-dimethoxyphenyl]-3-methylcyclohexanol (O-2137) exerted a concentration-related inhibition of U937 cell migration in response to Tat. Pharmacological blockage of CB1 receptor signaling using the antagonist 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methyl-N-(1-piperidyl)pyrazole-3-carboxamide hydrochloride (SR141716A) had no effect on CP55940-mediated inhibition of macrophage migration to Tat, whereas treatment with the CB2 receptor antagonist (1S-endo)-5-(4-chloro-3-methylphenyl)-1-((4-methylphenyl)methyl)-N-(1,3,3-trimethylbicyclo(2.2.1)hept-2-yl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (SR144528) reversed the CP55940-mediated inhibition of migration. In addition, THC had no inhibitory effect on U937 migration to Tat after small interfering RNA knockdown of the CB2 receptor. Collectively, the pharmacological and biochemical knockdown data indicate that cannabinoid-mediated modulation of macrophage migration to the HIV-1 Tat protein is linked to the CB2 cannabinoid receptor. Furthermore, these results suggest that the CB2 cannabinoid receptor has potential to serve as a therapeutic target for ablation of HIV-1-associated untoward inflammatory response.
The value of being systemically important: event study on regulatory announcements for banks

It is assumed that the awarding of a ‘systemic importance’ seal by the regulator has a positive effect on the equity value of its holder. By employing an event study analysis on a new set of regulatory announcements, we find that financial market participants react to these announcements which are, in effect, judgements that a certain credit institution is systemically important. However, the stock returns found for the respective banks are not exclusively positive; a phenomenon for which we provide explanations. Furthermore, our results show that market reactions on the most present event are weakest, indicating that the announcements’ informational value to market participants diminished.
Asymmetric Information Impacts: Evidence from the Australian Treasury-Bond Futures Market

The effect of information flows on the return volatility of Australian 3-year Treasury bond futures is examined using linear and non-linear GARCH models. Results show significant asymmetric information effects, where bad news has a greater impact on volatility than good news and a non-linear Threshold ARCH(1,1) in mean model provides the most accurate estimation of return volatility. Diagnostic tests confirm this finding and out of sample forecasting error statistics verify that the Threshold ARCH(1,1) in mean model yields the lowest forecasting error. The Threshold ARCH(1,1)-M model is best at capturing the asymmetric information impact on the Australian three-year T-Bond futures return volatility. Copyright 2007 The Authors Journal compilation 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Epidemiological and Clinical Feature of Respiratory Tract Infections Caused by Mycoplasma Pneumoniae in a Pediatric Emergency Department

c Abstract Objective: To characterize the epidemiological and clinical features of respiratory tract infections caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children visiting the emergency department. Study Design: Prospective clinical study. Study Population and Setting: Children 1 month to 18 years of age who presented to the emergency department of an urban pediatric tertiary facility with symptoms and signs of a respiratory tract infection between September 2000 and February 2001. Patients and Methods: 100 children with at least one of the following: 1) cough and/ or coryza; 2) stridor or wheezing with fever, or 3) physical findings consistent with pneumonia. Patients pretreated with macrolides were excluded. Laboratory work-up included at least a complete blood count. Serologic study, nasopharygeal culture, and chest x-ray were performed in all cases. Clinical, radiological, laboratory, and epidemiological parameters were collected from the files and compared between patients with Mycoplasma and non-Mycoplasma pneumonia. Results: Twenty patients (20%) had a positive serologic finding for M pneumoniae, including 16 (80%) with a clinical diagnosis of pneumonia, who accounted for 25% of the total patients with pneumonia. Twelve were 3 years old. Patients with Mycoplasma pneumonia had a significantly longer duration of fever prior to admission (3.6 vs 2.2 days, p=0.025), higher rate of auscultatory findings consistent with pneumonia (63% vs 15%, p<0.002), and higher rate of atelectasis (38% vs 2%, p<0.001) than patients with non-Mycoplasma pneumonia. There were no significant differences between the groups in any of the other parameters. Only 4 children (25%) with Mycoplasma pneumonia recieved specific antibiotic (macrolide) therapy at discharge. Conclusions: The prevalence of Mycoplasma respiratory tract infection in young children (ages 3-5) appears to be higher than originally thought. We suggest that macrolide therapy be considered in these age groups, especially in the presence of positive auscultatory findings or atelectasis.
Macau Metropolis and Mental Life: Interior Urbanism and the Chinese Imaginary.

This article investigates the tendency towards an interiorized and encapsulated urbanity in Macau and the functional role of this phenomenon in the ‘mental life’ of Chinese consumers. A Portuguese territory for half a millennium, Macau was returned to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1999; the postcolonial, semi-autonomous Macau Special Administrative Region has subsequently become the most lucrative casino gaming site in the world, far surpassing casino revenues earned in Las Vegas. This article investigates the manner in which the local government of the city-state and the central government of the PRC have colluded with transnational capital to effect a remarkable enclosure of the urban commons in Macau. The entire city today may be understood as a biopolitical laboratory of consumption, where the PRC uses a preferential exit visa policy to allow tourists from select, relatively affluent provinces access to Macau. The new built environment of the city naturalizes a radical urban imaginary and corresponding post-socialist ‘quality’ consumer subject; that subject is crucial to the macroeconomic goals of the PRC and the sustainability of global capitalism.
Influence of (international) experiences on entrepreneurial processes among nocive entrepreneurs operating within an unstable environment context

The aim of this this research paper is to investigate whether international and domestic experiences have an impact on entrepreneurial processes among novice entrepreneurs operating within an unstable environment. This research question developed form an evident growing interest for the exploration of entrepreneurial mindset within academic and business community. Vanishing of many trade barriers and technological advances result in ever growing number of entrepreneurs engaging in cross-border business activities. This of course brings along several issues and questions with regard to the way individuals from different environments operate and also to the aim of this research: to enrich the understanding of the impact the (international) experiences have on the mindset of Russia’s novice entrepreneurs. This is achieved by using a recent steam of research, which lately has been gaining more attention within academic community, called the theory of effectuation. This theory is based on a recognition of a distinction within entrepreneurial decision-making process between causation (planning) and effectuation (intuition). Effectuation theory will be applied to the context of business environment of Russian Federation and its novice entrepreneurs.
Orphan Kidney Diseases

Rare kidney diseases are a unique subset of renal disorders that are often termed ‘orphan’ as a result of a multitude of reasons: the small number of patients with the consequent lack of well-defined natural history and course of many of these diseases, limited awareness among the medical community, and finally the significant cost of developing novel therapeutics which makes many of these diseases unattractive targets for the pharmaceutical industry. Nevertheless, in the last decade the study and clinical management of rare kidney disease patients has been the focus of many investigative efforts. In recent years we have witnessed an enormous expansion in our knowledge of the genetic nature of a number of rare kidney diseases. Moreover, the investigation of the role of genetic disruption aiming at elucidating the pathogenesis of different and complex renal diseases has helped not only in understanding the disease states, but has also given us fundamental insights into a number of kidney developmental and physiological functions. This article will give an overview of orphan renal diseases with particular emphasis on monogenic kidney diseases. It will also focus on the classification of these diseases while highlighting a prominent example in each category.
A hum removal algorithm used for audio restoration purposes

An automatic hum removal system is presented and characterized in the paper, which could be used in audio restoration applications. Its design starts from hum modeling. Two hum models were proposed, then the importance of high precision hum noise fundamental frequency estimation along with a comparative study of common estimators is presented. The problematic of filter design, represented by the choice of the quality factors depending on the spectral band in which each filter will work, is described afterwards, concluding with objective and subjective test results for the algorithm. The results clearly indicate the strong preference of the listeners for the signals resulted after the hum removal, in the high precision frequency estimation case.
Immediate early response gene X-1, a potential prognostic biomarker in cancers

Introduction: The immediate early response gene X-1 (IEX-1) plays a pivotal role in the regulation of cell apoptosis, proliferation, differentiation and metabolism. Deregulation of IEX-1 expression has been confirmed in multiple cancers in humans, in association with either poor or better prognosis depending on the type and progression stages of the cancer. Areas covered: This review summarizes clinical studies of altered IEX-1 expression in ovarian, pancreatic, blood, breast and colorectal cancers, lymphoma and myeloma. The authors also outline the current understandings of the complex functions of IEX-1 gained from studies with animal models and tumor cell lines so as to help us comprehend the significance of the clinical findings. Expert opinion: IEX-1 holds great promise to be a valuable biomarker, either alone or in combination with other genes, for monitoring progression of some cancers. IEX-1 expression is highly sensitive to environmental cues and distinct between normal and cancer cells. However, use of IEX-1 as a biomarker remains a significant challenge because too little is understood about the mechanism underlying the diverse activities of IEX-1 and a standardized clinical assay for IEX-1 detection and validation of clinical results across different studies are still critically lacking.
Tourism, trade and growth: the case of Cyprus

Although the relationship between international trade and economic growth has found a wide application area in the literature over the years, this can not be said about tourism and growth or trade and tourism. This study employs the bounds test for cointegration and Granger causality tests to investigate a long-run equilibrium relationship between tourism, trade and real income growth, and the direction of causality among themselves for Cyprus. Results reveal that tourism, trade and real income growth are cointegrated; thus, a long-run equilibrium relationship can be inferred between these three variables. On the other hand, Granger causality test results suggest that real income growth stimulates growth in international trade (both exports and imports) and international tourist arrivals to the island. Furthermore, growth in international trade (both exports and imports) also stimulates an increase in international tourist arrivals to Cyprus. And finally, real import growth stimulate growth in real exports in the case of Cyprus.
The impediments to developing a market orientation: an exploratory study of small UK hotels

The aim of this paper is to redress a literature imbalance through identifying, describing and analysing the impediments to the development of market orientation in the context of small UK hotels. The paper begins with a clarification of the nature and domain of market orientation. Thereafter, extant research into the performance implications of market orientation is briefly discussed and existing research into market orientation obstacles critically summarised. The paper then introduces the findings of exploratory interviews which demonstrate that the barriers to developing market orientation for small hoteliers are vastly different from those which are conventionally forwarded. The paper culminates with a series of conclusions and implications for theorists and practitioners.
Intracellular Pool of IL-10 Receptors in Specific Granules of Human Neutrophils: Differential Mobilization by Proinflammatory Mediators1

IL-10 has a wide range of effects tending to control inflammatory responses. We used flow cytometry to study IL-10 binding at the polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) surface and its modulation by various proinflammatory agents. Little IL-10 bound to the surface of resting PMN. However, binding was strongly increased after stimulation with LPS and proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF and GM-CSF. IL-1 and IL-8 did not significantly modify IL-10 binding. Cycloheximide had no effect on TNF-induced IL-10 binding, strongly suggesting the release of a pre-existing pool of IL-10R rather than de novo receptor synthesis by PMN. This was confirmed by the inhibitory effect of pentoxifylline, an inhibitor of degranulation. The existence of an intracellular pool of IL-10R was shown by flow cytometry, immunocytochemical staining, and Western blotting with several anti-human IL-10R Abs. In subcellular fractions of resting PMN, IL-10R was mainly located in the specific granule fraction, and was absent from azurophil granules and cytosol. We also tested the mobilization of specific granules by measuring the release of lactoferrin, their reference marker. The differential effects of the proinflammatory agents on IL-10 binding matched their effects on lactoferrin release and may therefore be related to differential mobilization of specific granules by these agents. Furthermore, the kinetics of TNF-induced up-regulation of IL-10 binding to PMN ran parallel to the kinetics of the inhibitory effect of IL-10 on the oxidative burst, suggesting a key role of IL-10R mobilization from specific granules to the membranes in optimal regulation of inflammatory responses.
Normal ovulatory women with polycystic ovaries have hyperandrogenic pituitary-ovarian responses to gonadotropin-releasing hormone-agonist testing.

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have chronic anovulation and hyperandrogenism and frequently have abnormalities in their lipid profiles and insulin/insulin-like growth factor axis that increase their lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease. Normal ovulatory women may have polycystic ovaries on ultrasonography and yet lack the clinical features of PCOS. To further explore whether ovulatory women without clinical/biochemical hyperandrogenism but with polycystic appearing ovaries (ov-PAO) have subclinical features of PCOS, we prospectively characterized 26 ov-PAO women and matched them by age and body mass index to 25 ovulatory women with normal appearing ovaries (ov-NAO) and to 22 women with PCOS. After an overnight fast, all women had baseline endocrine and metabolic assessments. In addition, a subset of each group of women underwent GnRH-agonist (leuprolide acetate 1 mg s.c.) testing, ACTH stimulation, and an insulin tolerance test (ITT). At baseline, ov-PAO and ov-NAO women had similar endocrine profiles (LH, LH:FSH, androstenedione, and DHEAS). Compared with ov-NAO, 31% of ov-PAO women had reduced glucose responses after insulin (K(itt)), suggesting mild insulin resistance, and 35% had high density lipoprotein levels below 35 mg/dL, a level considered to represent significant cardiovascular risk. After GnRH-agonist, ov-PAO women had response patterns in LH, total testosterone, and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) that were intermediate between ov-NAO and women with PCOS. Ovarian responses were above the normal range in 30-40% of women with ov-PAO. In ov-PAO, peak responses of LH after leuprolide correlated with triglyceride levels (P < 0.05) and peak responses of 17-OHP correlated inversely with Kitt values (P < 0.05). No significant differences were noted with ACTH testing. In conclusion, occult biochemical ovarian hyperandrogenism may be uncovered using GnRH-agonist in ovulatory women with ov-PAO, while adrenal responses remain normal. Subtle metabolic abnormalities may also be prevalent.
Synthesis and Evaluation of Dinitroanilines for Treatment of Cryptosporidiosis

ABSTRACT The efficacy of a series of dinitroaniline herbicide derivatives for the treatment of Cryptosporidium parvum infections has been studied. The lead compounds oryzalin (compound 1) and trifluralin (compound 2) have low water solubility (<3 ppm) which was alleged to be a major contributor to their poor pharmacokinetic availability. Derivatives of compounds 1 and 2 were synthesized. In these derivatives the functionality at the C-1 amine position or the C-4 position was substituted with groups with various hydrophilicities to determine if a direct relation existed between water solubility and overall activity. The chlorinated precursors of these derivatives were also examined and were found to be less active in the C. parvum assays, a result in direct contrast to earlier work with Leishmania. Enhanced water solubility alone did not overcome the drug availability problem; however, several candidates with similar activities but with toxicities lower than those of the lead compounds were produced.
Entrepreneurship, Management, and Sustainable Development

Successful management in the new millennium requires developing new methods and approaches to suit the challenges and opportunities of this new era of globalisation. An entrepreneurial approach is seen by many scholars and policy makers as a major option to enhance organisational performance in this era. The concept of entrepreneurship is multi-dimensional and often unclear. Various perspectives have different implications for how entrepreneurship is related to and can help promote sustainable development (SD). This introductory paper to WREMSD will attempt to explore viewpoints from around the world on entrepreneurship, management, and SD. The key objectives are to explain different perspectives on what is meant by the term entrepreneurship in a global context and to provide an overview of SD in relation to entrepreneurship. The paper argues that it is essential that research and policy development fully takes account of the differing perspectives of entrepreneurship and make explicit the particular perspective(s) that they are taking. No single definition necessarily fully captures the concept, but by being clear about our meaning of the concept and the underlying assumptions, we can progress our understanding of entrepreneurship and its relationships to SD.
Patient Specific Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing of Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunt Systems

Goal: The development of increasingly sophisticated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunts calls for test beds that can reproduce an ever larger range of physiologic and pathophysiologic behaviors. In particular, upcoming smart and active devices will require extensive testing under complex dynamic conditions. Herein, we describe a test bed that allows for fast, cost effective, and realistic in vitro testing of active and passive, gravitational and nongravitational CSF shunts based on the hardware-in-the-loop principle. Methods: The shunt to be tested is placed in a dynamic in vitro setup that interfaces with a mathematical model of the patient's relevant physiology, which is evaluated numerically in real time. The model parameters can be identified using standard clinical tests. The test bed accounts for posture-dependent behavior and viscoelastic effects. Results: Simulations of infusion tests, of intracranial pressure modulation by cardiovascular action, and of the effects of postural changes show good agreement with published results. Evaluation of valves without and with gravitational units show in modeled sitting patients the expected behavior of overdrainage and avoidance thereof, respectively. Finally, a 24-h test cycle based on recorded patient data elucidates the interaction between patient and shunt system expressed by drainage rate and intracranial pressure during typical daily activities. Conclusion: We envision this test bed as a tool to quantify a shunt's performance within a realistic yet reproducible testing environment. Significance: The test bed can improve our understanding of the complex interaction between patient and shunt system and may catalyze the development of active shunts, while reducing the number of necessary in vivo experiments.
Export Diversification in Twelve European and Central Asian Countries and the Role of the Commodity Boom

This paper examines export diversification along the product and market dimensions for selected countries in the Europe and Central Asia region and, more generally, export performance. While the latter is extraordinary, with average export growth rates above 10 percent, the evidence on diversification is less impressive, and hints at a role played by the interaction of natural resource abundance and the commodity price boom. A cross-country analysis including 171 economies suggests that the region's resource rich countries are less diversified than would be expected given their resource endowments, level of development, and size. The commodity boom period was associated with an increase in concentration for the resource rich along the product dimension: they did not increase the number of products exported and became more reliant on oil and gas. During the same period, the resource poor increased their export product scope while maintaining other concentration indices unchanged. A similar but milder pattern is found for diversification along the destination dimension.