Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interleukin-17-induced Gene Expression in Articular Chondrocytes Is Associated with Activation of Mitogen-activated Protein Kinases and NF-κB*

This study examines intracellular signaling events associated with the activation of chondrocytes by the cytokine interleukin-17 (IL-17). Stimulation of normal human articular chondrocytes with IL-17 induced nitric oxide (NO) production, concomitant with an increase in transcripts and de novotranslation products of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) genes. Several other genes associated with inflammation and cartilage degradation, such as IL-1β, IL-6, and stromelysin, were also up-regulated in IL-17-treated chondrocytes. Among signaling events displaying early response to IL-17 in chondrocytes were the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases ERK1, ERK2, JNK, and p38. DNA binding activity of NF-κB was also significantly induced. IL-17 effects on NO release, as well as iNOS, COX-2, and IL-6 protein expression, were inhibited by the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone. Importantly, dexamethasone blunted IL-17-dependent activation of MAP kinases, suggesting a mechanistic relationship between these activities and the aforementioned gene expression responses. Similar effects of a lesser extent were observed with the p38-specific inhibitor SB203580. These results suggest that IL-17 activation of chondrocytes is associated with and depends at least in part on the activation of MAP kinases and NF-κB.
Economic Liberalization and Contemporary Determinants of Mexico's Internal Migration: An Application of Spatial Gravity Models

Abstract This paper examines the determinants of interstate migration flows in Mexico for the period between 1985 and 2005. The aim is to explore internal changes in the Mexican economy as a result of the impact of trade and financial liberalization to identify factors contributing to or deterring migration flows. Internal migration is modelled using extended spatial gravity models that are then properly estimated using Poisson estimation techniques. The findings suggest a structural break in terms of a reduction of interstate migration flows in the post-NAFTA period. The evidence suggests that much of this effect could be attributed to higher levels in the indicators of trade liberalization, which appear to also offset the expected effects of wage differentials. RÉSUMÉ La présente communication se penche sur les facteurs déterminants des flux migratoires entre états, au Mexique, au cours de la période de 1985 à 2005. Son objet est l'examen de changements internes survenus dans l'économie du Mexique à la suite de l'impact de la libéralisation commerciale et financière, afin d'identifier des facteurs contribuant aux flux migratoires, ou les dissuadant. On procède à la modélisation de la migration interne en utilisant des modèles à gravité spatiale étendus, dont on effectue ensuite une estimation correcte, en appliquant les techniques d'estimation de poisson. Les résultats permettent d'en conclure une rupture structurelle sous forme d'une réduction des flux migratoires entre états au cours de la période post-NAFTA. Les documents à l'appui permettent d'affirmer que cet effet pourrait être attribué, dans une grande mesure, à des niveaux supérieurs dans les indicateurs de la libéralisation commerciale, qui semblent compenser, en outre, les effets imprévus des écarts salariaux. EXTRACTO Este estudio examina la determinación de los flujos de migración interestatal de Méjico entre 1985 y 2005. El propósito es explorar los cambios internos en la economía mejicana como resultado del impacto de la liberalización comercial y financiera, para identificar factores que contribuyen a, u obstaculizan, los flujos de migración. La migración interna se modela utilizando modelos extendidos de gravitación espacial que luego se estiman apropiadamente aplicando técnicas de estimación de Poisson. Los descubrimientos apuntan hacia una ruptura estructural en términos de la reducción de los flujos de migración interestatal en el período post-NAFTA. La evidencia sugiere que gran parte de este efecto podría atribuirse a niveles más altos en los indicadores de liberalización comercial, que también parecen compensar los efectos esperados de los diferenciales de sueldos. 摘要 : 本文研究了1985到2005年间墨西哥州际迁移的影响因素。 目的在于通过探索贸易和金融自由化对墨西哥经济内部变化的影响 , 找到促进或者抑制国内迁移的因素。 先使用拓展的空间引力模型对国内迁移进行建模 , 然后使用泊松估计方法进行准确估计。 结果发现国内迁移呈现结构性断层—— 在后NAFTA时代州际迁移减少。 有证据表明 , 在很大程度上 , 更大的贸易自由度导致了这一现象 , 它似乎还改变了工资差异的预期效果。
Leadership styles of the Campus Principals and Divisional Directors in a Public University of Pakistan

The purpose of the study is to identify the leadership styles (transformational, transactional and laissez-faire) of the campus principals/divisional directors of a public university in Pakistan. The study adopted a survey approach, and all the 287 faculty members of the university were included in the sample to collate quantitative data through Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). The findings suggest that the transformational leadership style is comparatively being more often exercised by the leaders, followed by the transactional leadership style, while the laissez-faire leadership style is the least practised. In comparison to all nine dimensions of the three leadership styles, inspirational motivation with the highest mean is the key leadership dimension practised by the leaders. Idealised influence (behaviour) and management-by-exception (active) dimensions also play a pivotal role in shaping the leadership style of the leaders. Key Words: Leadership Styles, Campus P rincipals/Divisional Directors, Public University
A note on Dasgupta, Hammond, and Maskin's (1979) domain richness condition

We discuss a problem concerning Dasgupta, Hammond, and Maskin''s (1979) definition of a rich domain and a very well-known result they established for these domains: on rich domains, if a social choice function is implementable in Nash strategies, then it is truthfully implementable in dominant strategies Dasgupta, Hammond, and Maskin''s (1979, Theorem 7.2.3). This result is cited many times in later papers, e.g., Laffont and MaskinL(1982, Theorem 4) and Maskin (1985, Theorem 7). Dasgupta, Hammond, and Maskin''s (1979) proof of this result essentially is based on showing that (Maskin) monotonicity implies strategy-proofness (or equivalently independent person-by-person monotonicity IPM). In the sequel we abbreviate Dasgupta, Hammond, and Maskin (1979) by DHM. We describe DHM''s model in Section 2.In Section 3 we first construct an example of a DHM rich domain and a social choice function that is monotonic but not strategy-proof (Example 1). This suggests that DHM''s rich domain definition is not sufficient to show that monotonicity implies strategy-proofness (or that Nash implementability implies truthful implementability in dominant strategies). We then investigate which step in DHM''s proof is problematic - since DHM do not give a direct proof of the result, we reproduce Maskinâ€™s (1985) proof. In Section 4, we consider the presentation of Dasgupta, Hammond, and Maskin''s (1979) definition of a rich domain in the Maskin and SjA¶strA¶m (2002). It turns out that there definition of a rich domain is different from DHM''s original definition. With this adjusted richness condition the proof that monotonicity implies strategy-proofness is correct.
A sequence-ready BAC/PAC contig and partial transcript map of approximately 1.5 Mb in human chromosome 17q25 comprising multiple disease genes.

Hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy (HNA) is an autosomal dominant recurrent neuropathy mapped to a 4-cM interval on chromosome 17q25 between the short tandem repeat (STR) markers D17S1603 and D17S802. Chromosome 17q25 in general and the 4-cM HNA region in particular are also implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of tumors (tylosis with esophageal cancer, sporadic breast and ovarian tumors) and harbor a psoriasis susceptibility locus. Initial attempts to construct a yeast artificial chromosome contig failed. Therefore, we have now constructed a complete P1 artificial chromosome (PAC) and bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) contig of the region flanked by the STR markers D17S1603 and D17S802. The contig contains 22 PAC and 64 BAC clones and covers a physical distance of approximately 1. 5 Mb. A total of 83 sequence-tagged site (STS) markers (10 known STSs and STRs, 56 STSs generated from clone end-fragments, 12 expressed sequence tags, and 5 known genes) were mapped on the contig, resulting in an extremely dense physical map with approximately 1 STS per 20 kb. This sequence-ready PAC and BAC contig will be pivotal for the positional cloning of the HNA gene as well as other disease genes mapping to this region.
Identification of sequence polymorphisms in the D-loop region of mitochondrial DNA as risk biomarkers for malignant fibrous histiocytoma

Abstract Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the mitochondrial DNA Displacement-loop (D-loop) region particularly in a highly polymorphic homopolymeric C stretch named D310 have been reported to be associated with cancer risk in several types of cancer. In order to evaluate the frequency of D-loop SNPs in a large series of malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) and establish correlations with cancer risk, we sequenced the D-loop of 92 MFH patients and analyzed their use as predictive biomarkers for MFH risk. The minor alleles of nucleotides 73G, 151T were associated with an increased risk for MFH patients, whereas the alleles of nucleotides 16,298C, 152C, and insertion of C at the site 315 (located within the D310) were associated with a decreased risk for MFH patients. These results suggest that SNPs in the mitochondrial D-loop should be considered as a biomarker which may be useful for the early detection of MFH in individuals at risk of this cancer.
Probabilistic assessment of transient stability in reduced inertia systems

A probabilistic approach to assess the transient stability of power systems with increased penetration of wind and Photo-Voltaic generation is presented in this paper. The impact on transient stability due to the intermittent behavior of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) as well as due to their dynamic response when a disturbance happens is investigated. Moreover, the effect of conventional generation disconnection and consequently inertia reduction is studied. Apart from calculating transient stability related indices, a clustering technique is also applied to provide more information considering the impact of DERs and conventional generation disconnection on transient stability.
Cerebral Transplants for Seizures: Preliminary Results

Summary: Several critical brain regions have been identified in which application of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) potentiating agents in small quantities can suppress or prevent generalized and kindled amygdala seizures, i.e., substantia nigra and deep prepiriform cortex. Severity of audiogenic seizures in the genetically epilepsy prone rat (GEPR) is reduced by injection of norepinephrine (NE) into the lateral ventricles and by GABA in inferior colliculus. The present investigation examines the potential for raising epileptic thresholds by increasing local GABAergic or NE inhibitory activity by means of brain transplants of tissue rich in GABA or NE neurons. Two models of epilepsy were used: amygdala‐kindled seizures and sound‐induced seizures in GEPRs. Transplantation of embryonic cerebellar or cortical tissue to the deep prepiriform area of amygdala kindled rats transiently raised seizure thresholds in three of the nine animals. Transplantation of embryonic cerebellar or cortical tissue to the inferior colliculus or adrenal medulla tissue to lateral ventricles of GEPRs did not appreciably reduce the intensity of audiogenic seizures in these animals.
Prevalence and correlates of bipolar spectrum disorder in the world mental health survey initiative.

CONTEXT There is limited information on the prevalence and correlates of bipolar spectrum disorder in international population-based studies using common methods. OBJECTIVES To describe the prevalence, impact, patterns of comorbidity, and patterns of service utilization for bipolar spectrum disorder (BPS) in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey Initiative. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cross-sectional, face-to-face, household surveys of 61,392 community adults in 11 countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia assessed with the World Mental Health version of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview, version 3.0, a fully structured, lay-administered psychiatric diagnostic interview. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) disorders, severity, and treatment. RESULTS The aggregate lifetime prevalences were 0.6% for bipolar type I disorder (BP-I), 0.4% for BP-II, 1.4% for subthreshold BP, and 2.4% for BPS. Twelve-month prevalences were 0.4% for BP-I, 0.3% for BP-II, 0.8% for subthreshold BP, and 1.5% for BPS. Severity of both manic and depressive symptoms as well as suicidal behavior increased monotonically from subthreshold BP to BP-I. By contrast, role impairment was similar across BP subtypes. Symptom severity was greater for depressive episodes than manic episodes, with approximately 74.0% of respondents with depression and 50.9% of respondents with mania reporting severe role impairment. Three-quarters of those with BPS met criteria for at least 1 other disorder, with anxiety disorders (particularly panic attacks) being the most common comorbid condition. Less than half of those with lifetime BPS received mental health treatment, particularly in low-income countries, where only 25.2% reported contact with the mental health system. CONCLUSIONS Despite cross-site variation in the prevalence rates of BPS, the severity, impact, and patterns of comorbidity were remarkably similar internationally. The uniform increases in clinical correlates, suicidal behavior, and comorbidity across each diagnostic category provide evidence for the validity of the concept of BPS. Treatment needs for BPS are often unmet, particularly in low-income countries.
Ecotourism in China's Nature Reserves: Opportunities and Challenges

Tourism's rapid growth provides many opportunities for the development of China's nature reserves. Simultaneously, environmental quality and biodiversity in these areas may suffer irreversible losses where unmanaged tourism uses the name of ecotourism. High-level decision-makers and reserve managers are facing new challenges. This paper addresses the fundamental implications of ecotourism, highlights opportunities and challenges, and identifies effective management measures and suggestions for developing ecotourism in China's nature reserves.
Do Single Mothers Face Greater Constraints to Workforce Participation in Non‐Metropolitan Areas?

Increasing workforce participation among single mothers is the primary goal of recent welfare reform measures. This article shows that increased workforce participation in the mid to late 1990s led to improvements in the economic well-being of non-metropolitan and metropolitan area families headed by single mothers. Differential benefits and costs of workforce participation of single mothers in non-metropolitan and metropolitan areas are then examined. Single mothers are found to face lower costs to workforce participation and receive lower hourly earnings in non-metropolitan areas than in metropolitan areas. Young children do, however, raise workforce participation costs more in non-metropolitan areas. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
Individual differences in the orientation of the cytolytic T cell response against mouse tumor P815

We reported previously that the mouse tumor P815 expresses four distinct antigens (A, B, C, D) recognized by syngeneic cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL). A fifth P815 antigen (E) was identified by means of a CTL clone derived from tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes. We compared a number of mice for the orientation of their CTL response with respect to the various P815 antigens. Lymphocytes from mice inoculated subcutaneously with living P815 cells were stimulated in vitro with tumor cells and the resulting CTL were tested against targets expressing either antigens A and B or antigens C, D and E. Many mice had an asymmetrical response, some producing CTL directed almost exclusively against antigens A, B and others producing CTL directed almost exclusively against C, D. E. When mice were inoculated into two separate sites, different orientations in the responses of the two local lymph nodes were often observed, suggesting that individual differences in the orientation of the anti‐P815 CTL response do not result from preexisting differences between the animals. Asymmetrical CTL responses persisted in mice that were given a second injection of tumor cells. A possible interpretation of our results is that the major component of the CTL response is made of the progeny of a very small number of CTL precursors that happen to be the first to be stimulated by the tumor antigens.
Local Government Management Development in Scotland: A Study of Public Policy and its Implementation, 1967-2002

This study examines the public policy on management development in Scottish local government from 1967 to 2002. Public policy literature tends to reflect the public administration context of its heyday in the 1970s and early 1980s. The focus then was on improving policy formulation to take account of potential implementation problems and thus to counter the failures due to bad policy identified in the multiplicity of real case studies. This study focuses on the public policy area of management development provision for local government managers taking into account recent developments in the post-devolution period.
Cultural compatibility in internal knowledge transfers: an application to hotel chain growth

This work addresses the internal transfer of knowledge from a cultural perspective when hotel chains grow. The analysis begins with an approach to the intra-organisational transfer of knowledge in hotel chain expansion. Later, culture in organisations is addressed; this gives rise to the proposal of cultural compatibility as a determinant of the intra-firm transfer of knowledge. Moreover, reference is made to possible sources of cultural incompatibility: location abroad of the new hotel, conversions where most employees stay, and small size of the new hotel. The hypotheses are tested in the Spanish hotel context. The results show effects and causes of the compatibility between the cultural context in which the knowledge to be transferred originated and the cultural framework in which it is to be implemented.
Improving operations performance through TQM in the post-financial crisis era: an exploratory case study of a multinational IM firm in the Greater China region

The demand for insights or evaluations of total quality management (TQM) implementation in investment management (IM) fields based on empirical research has been neglected in the literature. This exploratory research documents the effect of the TQM implementation of a multinational IM firm's operations performance during the five-year time period after the 2008 financial crisis. In the phase I research, the longitudinal case studies unfold processes and results of TQM projects undertaken in the firm's operations units in the Greater China region. The studies show that the application of the business process improvement P-A-I-S-I approach yields positive results in most of the firm's operations units. Propositions and an effective quality management model are thus addressed based on the findings. In the phase II research, the Grounded Theory approach derives and develops a TQM implementation framework and a diagnostic checklist for the IM industry.
Fiscal policy and national saving

This paper uses structural vector autoregressions along with structural measures of fiscal policy to measure the dynamic impact of fiscal policy shocks on the output gap and national saving. Positive shocks to government purchases and negative shocks to real net taxes are found to increase the output gap. Positive shocks to the government's structural surplus increases national saving although the effects are small. Positive shocks to government purchases are found to substantially reduce national saving. Negative shocks to real net tax revenues as a share of potential GDP have a small negative impact on national saving.
Income Risk, Borrowing Constraints, and Portfolio Choice

Economic theory suggests that uninsurable income risk and the expectation of future borrowing constraints can reduce the share of risky assets in a household's portfolio. If the utility function exhibits decreasing absolute risk aversion and decreasing prudence, an individual will reduce his exposure to rate of return risks when confronted with other independent risks. If there are transaction costs, the expectation offuture borrowing constraints should induce individuals to keep a lower proportion of their wealth in the form of illiquid and risky assets. We find support for these propositions in a cross-section of Italian households (JEL D81, GIl). The theory of portfolio choice relates asset shares to the expected value and riskiness of asset returns, transaction costs, and indivisibilities. However, portfolio decisions may also be affected by types of uncertainty other than interest-rate uncertainty. In particular, uninsurable, nondiversifiable risks-such as earnings risk-may induce prudent investors to reduce holdings of risky assets in order to cut their overall exposure to risk (Miles S. Kimball, 1993). The anticipation of future
A general partition scheme for gate leakage current suitable for MOSFET compact models

For the first time, it is rigorously shown that the source/drain partition of gate leakage current in a MOSFET is identical to that of inversion charge. This paper provides model developers a general recipe in addressing the partition issue and enables more consistent model parameter extraction methodology for MOSFETs in sub-100 nm technology.
Exchange-Rate Pass-through with Intertemporal Linkages: Evidence at the Commodity Level

This paper argues that the stability of exchange-rate pass-through is not well tested in common econometric specifications of pass-through equations. This is because (1) expected future exchange-rate changes are an important omitted variable in these estimations, and (2) the use of aggregate data complicates inference. Commodity-level estimates obtained from applying the Kalman filter are consistent with the apparent instability in aggregate pass-through. Moreover, by comparing these estimates to actual exchange-rate movements, the observed instability is found to be consistent with forward-looking behavior as posited. Copyright 1995 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Total Energy Demand Estimation in Iran Using Bees Algorithm

Abstract Many studies are performed by researchers to estimate energy demand but the bees algorithm (BA) technique has never been used for such a study. This paper presents application of the BA technique to estimate total energy demand in Iran, based on socioeconomic indicators. The BA demand estimation models (BA-DEM) are first developed in two forms (exponential and linear) in order to estimate energy demand based on population, gross domestic product, import and export data. Then, two scenarios are designed for forecasting each socioeconomic indicator in the years 2006–2030. Finally, these two scenarios are used to forecast energy demand up to year 2030 using demand estimation models. Energy consumption in Iran from 1981–2005 is considered as the case of this study. The available data is partly used for finding the optimal, or near optimal, values of the weighting parameters (1981–1999) and partly for testing the models (2000–2005). In order to show the accuracy of the BA, obtained results of BA-DEM models are compared with particle swarm optimization and genetic algorithm demand estimation models which are developed for the same problem.