Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Tetraethylenepentamine, a Synthetic Copper Chelating Polyamine, on Expression of CD34 and CD38 Antigens on Normal and Leukemic Hematopoietic Cells

We have previously found that the synthetic polyamine tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) significantly delayed differentiation and prolonged expansion of cord-blood derived HPC in cytokine-supplemented cultures. Most HPC have the CD34+CD38+ phenotype, but the minority CD34+38- cells are primitive subset of HPC that have the potential for long-term repopulation in vivo. We investigated the effect of TEPA on the CD34/CD38 surface antigen expression of human myeloid leukemia cell lines as well as normal cord blood derived hematopoietic cells. Confirming previous results, our data showed that both the leukemic and normal cells increased their CD38 expression when grown in serum-containing medium or when treated with retinoic acid. In the present study, we found that TEPA inhibited CD38 under these conditions in both normal and leukemic cells. As for CD34, TEPA increased the proportion of CD34 cells in short- and long-term normal cultures but not in the leukemic cell lines. These results suggest that ex vivo expansion of HPC depends on the presence of CD34+CD38- cells and that TEPA prolongs HPC expansion by inhibiting the CD38- to CD38+ transition.
Do Family CEOs Impact Firm Value?: An Empirical Analysis of Indian Family Firms

We study the association between family CEO and firm value on a sample of 288 family firms during the 6-year period, from 2009 to 2014. The sample is drawn from domestic private companies belonging to non-financial services sector included in the NSE CNX 500 index. We find that family CEO has no significant association with firm value, when the family is not the majority shareholder. Family shareholding has positive relationship with firm value, but does not moderate the relationship of family CEO with firm value. We show that family CEO and firm value are negatively related when the family does not hold majority equity stake in the family firm. While family shareholding has no significant relationship with firm value, it has a negative interaction effect on the relationship between family CEO and firm value. The research findings have important implications for family firms as well as the nonfamily investors in the family firms.
The Influence of Treadmill Inclination on the Gait of Ambulatory Hemiparetic Subjects

Introduction. This study evaluated the influence of the degree of treadmill belt inclination for training of ambulatory patients with hemiparetic stroke. Methods. Twelve patients were instructed to walk at 5 different levels of inclination (0%-8%) while harness-secured on the treadmill. The gait velocity was kept constant during all conditions. Dependent variables were heart rate, gait cycle-dependent parameters, and electromyographic activation patterns of the weight-bearing muscles. Results. Heart rate increased across all inclination levels, stride length increased and cadence decreased, whereas swing symmetry improved due to shortening of the relative swing phase of the affected side at the 6% and 8% inclination levels. No change in the activation pattern of the leg muscles was found. Conclusion. An inclination up to at least 8% can be accommodated for treadmill training by ambulatory stroke patients. For a given belt speed, heart rate increased without exceeding critical levels and patients walked with a more symmetric pattern. This protocol appeared to be safe in this selected group of subjects.
The interstitial cell lineage of hydra: a stem cell system that arose early in evolution.

Many animals have one or more tissues that are self-renewing. These tissues consist of stem cells with a large or indefinite capacity for cell division, and differentiation products whose life span is much shorter than the life span of the organism. Some self-renewing systems are relatively simple in that the stem cells give rise to only one differentiation product such as the vertebrate epidermis. Others are more complex consisting of multipotent stem cells and several differentiation products. The hemopoietic tissue of the mouse is an example. In hydra the use of this form of organization has been carried to an extreme. All tissues are self-renewing, that is all cells are part of one or another stem cell system.
A longitudinal study on the factors of destination image, destination attraction and destination loyalty

Destination loyalty is identified as a universal concept with links to destination image. These links are derived from shared fundamental attributes that generate positive or negative effects on the attractiveness of a travel destination. This research study approaches the concept of destination loyalty in relation to the factors of destination image and destination attraction through a longitudinal comparison of data of 2012 and 2013. A destination factors model is proposed. From the analysis, the integrator ? Personal overall image of the destination? , the ultimate factor that reflects the destination image as a holographic complexity of perceptions, is confirmed as a regression target for a number of factors of the proposed theoretical model. Against the theoretical expectations, a significant effect of the integrator on travel decisions was not confirmed. Destination attributes associated with higher rankings and lower rankings revealed significant effects on the integrator. These attributes show the degree of perceived attraction on travelers and tourists and highlight the development priorities and the development performance of the destination. The proposed model and the isolated factors of destination image, destination attraction and destination loyalty allow a wide range of possible applications to the evaluation of performance and development of destinations, and enable the identification and consolidation of competitive advantages towards an evolution to a future scenario of economic sustainability.
Disrupted Balance of MMPs/TIMPs in Gastric Carcinogenesis–Paradoxical Low MMP-2 Expression in Tumor and Stromal Compartments as a Potential Marker of Unfavorable Outcome

The aim of the study was to find correlations between MMP/TIMP reactivity and the expression of angiogenic factors, and relationships between these parameters and clinicopathological features of gastric cancer patients. Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis was used to find cut-off points that enabled fair decision-making in survival analysis. Low levels of MMP-2 expression in tumor and stromal compartments were significantly associated with poor prognosis–the probability that a patient would die within 60 months of surgery if their MMP-2 was low, and was about 0.8 in both neoplastic and stromal compartments.
Tax and Regulatory Policies for European Transport – Getting There, But in the Slow Lane

This paper surveys tax and regulatory policies for road transport in the EU. According to the economic literature, policy reforms are needed that substitute current fuel and vehicle taxes by car and truck user taxes that depend on place and time of use. The survey analyzes how policies have developed over the last 20 years, what was their motivation and what were the main effects. Two ideas stand out. First, external cost concepts have been successfully introduced in policy thinking, but they have mainly lead to quantitative climate, energy and modal split objectives. Achieving these objectives has guided member states into costly policy reforms that have neglected other objectives, such as the efficient use of the current road infrastructure. Second, distance charging for trucks is a policy innovation that is spreading rapidly, but it risks to be mainly used for tax exporting rather than for better internalizing external costs.
The impact of CRM 2.0 on customer insight

Purpose – This paper aims to look at what CRM 2.0 is and how it impacts customer insights. It will show how CRM 2.0's incorporation of social tools and strategies with traditional operational functions meets the demands of twenty‐first century “social” customers.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a combination of independent research by the author for the last decade and third‐party sources. This means direct client consulting, interviews with senior corporate management and copious access to expert sources and documents.Findings – The new breed of customer requires corporate transparency, authenticity and interaction. To affect this intelligent, aggressive social consumer, richer insight than that of the past is necessary. CRM and social tools use combined provides the capability for this insight.Research limitations/implications – CRM 2.0 as a fully integrated strategy and system remains immature, though the integration of CRM traditional technologies with social networks is ongoing and in.
Bacterial Imprinting of the Neonatal Immune System: Lessons From Maternal Cells?

OBJECTIVE. We examined the presence of a natural bacterial inoculum in breast milk and its intracellular transport from the maternal intestine to the breast through the circulation. METHODS. Breast milk and peripheral blood were collected aseptically from healthy donors at various times after delivery, and the presence of viable bacteria was determined through plating. Temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis was used to examine the bacterial ribosomal DNA content in milk cells, maternal peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and feces and in corresponding infant feces. Blood from nongravid nonlactating women served as control samples. Bacterial translocation to extraintestinal tissues was also evaluated in virgin, pregnant, and lactating mice. RESULTS. Breast milk contained a low total concentration of microbes of <103 colony-forming units per mL. Temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis revealed that maternal blood and milk cells contained the genetic material of a greater biodiversity of enteric bacteria. Some bacterial signatures were common to infant feces and to samples of maternal origin. Bacterial translocation from the gut to mesenteric lymph nodes and mammary gland occurred during late pregnancy and lactation in mice. CONCLUSIONS. Bacterial translocation is a unique physiologic event, which is increased during pregnancy and lactation in rodents. Human breast milk cells contain a limited number of viable bacteria but a range of bacterial DNA signatures, as also found in maternal peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Those peripheral blood mononuclear cells showed greater biodiversity than did peripheral blood mononuclear cells from control women. Taken together, our results suggest that intestinally derived bacterial components are transported to the lactating breast within mononuclear cells. We speculate that this programs the neonatal immune system to recognize specific bacterial molecular patterns and to respond appropriately to pathogens and commensal organisms.
Interaction Between Antigen‐Presenting Cells and Primed T Lymphocytes

It is now well recognized that specific immune response (/r) genes play a major role in thymus-dependent immtme responses and that they are intimately involved in the regulation of cellular interactions of thymus-dependent (T) lymphocytes (Paul & Benacerraf 1977). A particular focus of research by our colleagues and by us has been the role of Ir gene products in the control of the interactions of antigen-presenting cells and specific T lymphocytes. The concept that such interactions might be an important site for the action of Ir gene products draws partictilar support from the initial description in guinea pig systems of the inhibition of Ir gene controlled responses by antisera specific for I-region gene products (Shevach et al. 1972) and from the finding that collaboration between antigen-presenting parental macrophages and responding Fi T lymphocytes reqtiires that the donor of the macrophage possess an Ir gene allowing it to respond to the antigen being tested (Shevach & Rosenthal 1973).
The Valuation of Volunteer Labor

Considerable theoretical and empirical progress has advanced our understanding of the role and value of the volunteer, resulting in improved estimates of volunteer labor valuation. Yet this task still involves conceptual and methodological challenges. Conceptually, costs and benefits accrue to the organization, the volunteer, and to society. Depending on oneâ€™s purpose, the focus may be on one or more of these concepts. To date, researchers have pursued three approaches: opportunity cost, replacement cost, and organizational value. Methodological challenges result from a lack of consensus on how to define volunteerism. There is still no comprehensive assessment of methodological differences for counting volunteer hours and researchers have not clearly documented which approaches yield the most accurate estimates. More generally, on-going analysis of volunteer hours in national datasets is largely missing and research that directly measures either the replacement value or the organizational value of volunteers is in its infancy.
Molecular epidemiology of beta‐lactamase producing nosocomial Gram‐negative pathogens from North and South Indian hospitals

Purpose. Resistant Gram‐negative bacterial (GNB) infections, apart from tremendously escalating the cost of treatment, are a cause for substantial morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. Such bacteria are rapidly acquiring resistance to many antimicrobial agents, especially the beta‐lactams which are the most frequently prescribed antimicrobials in hospital and community patient care settings, and now also to colistin; a last‐line drug to treat infections with such bacteria. The greatest threat to antimicrobial treatment is the production of metallo beta‐lactamases, and plasmid‐mediated serine carbapenemases. Methodology. We conducted a two‐year study to observe the pattern of beta‐lactamase enzyme production (extended spectrum beta‐lactamases (ESBLs), AmpC and carbapenemases) among the nosocomial GNB isolated from intensive care units (ICUs) of North and South Indian hospitals. A total of 761 non‐duplicate GNB were included in the study from North (554; 73%) and South India (207; 27%). All strains were subjected to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommended screening tests for detection of beta‐lactamase production, followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based detection of clinically important beta‐lactamase genes mediating resistant phenotypes among these isolates. Results. Out of the 761 GNB, Acinetobacter spp. , Klebsiella spp. , Pseudomonas spp. , Enterobacter spp. and others were 27, 23, 21, 17, 5 and 7% respectively. A high prevalence of ESBL was found across all genera in these strains. The carbapenem resistance was higher in North than in South Indian GNB. The level of AmpC production was comparatively lower in both North and South Indian strains. Conclusion. Beta‐lactamases showed tremendous variation in geographic distribution. Thus, their detection and characterization is important from a clinical‐epidemiological, laboratory and infection control point of view. Knowledge of this epidemiology can predict the empiric antimicrobial treatment.
A mechanism for programme evaluation in higher education

Quality assurance in higher education has a bearing on the policies, systems and processes directed at ensuring the quality of education provision in an institution (HEQC 1996, 14). To ensure a striving for excellence in academic programmes in a Faculty, to determine the extent to which this striving is achieved and to promote development and improvement, a project for programme evaluation was initiated, geared at designing a mechanism to be used in academic programme self-evaluations, but which will also be suitable for preparations for external evaluations and can serve as a premise for planning and development actions to improve programme quality. For the purpose of this project, quality assurance is labelled by the integration of methods, thinking and approach, that triangulates in a synergistic manner and inform the complexities and nuances of all core activities related to programme management and implementation, as well as quality management, namely quality control, evaluation, reflection, growth, development and enhancement, and planning. A qualitative, explorative and descriptive design was employed. A study of quality assurance criteria for academic programmes was conducted, followed by the development of an evaluation mechanism with criteria and rubrics for evaluation. Interviews were used as data collection method, with respondents from a variety of academic programmes country-wide, as well as experts in the area of academic QA. The final outcome of the project is a matrix-based mechanism indicating various levels of quality attainment, and providing guidelines for improvement. The instrument will be suitable for use in all academic programmes that strive to comply with the HEQC criteria for programme review.
Controllable spin entanglement production in a quantum spin Hall ring

We study the entanglement production in a quantum spin Hall ring geometry where electrons of opposite spins are emitted in pairs from a source and collected in two different detectors. Postselection of coincidence detector events gives rise to entanglement in the system, measurable through correlations between the outcomes in the detectors. We have chosen a geometry such that the entanglement depends on the dynamical phases picked up by the edge states as they move around the ring. In turn, the dependence of the phases on gate potential and Rashba interaction allows for a precise electrical control of the entanglement production in the ring.
Credible research practices to inform drug law enforcement

Chairing the recent National Research Council Committee on Data and Research for Policy on Illegal Drugs, I learned that our nation has invested little in research on drug law enforcement and that the limited available research does not provide a credible basis for formation of drug control policy. This commentary conjectures reasons for the distressing status quo and recommends changes in research practices that may improve matters. Language: en
Assessment of Factors Determining Parents’ Preference For Private Secondary Schools In Rural Communities of Cross River State

This paper explored the underlying factors determining parents’ choice of sending their children/wards to private secondary schools, using Cross River State rural communities as a case study. Sixty (60) private secondary institutions in the state were selected through stratified sampling technique. A total of 720 respondents were used in the study. This comprised 360 parents (males 153 and females 207) 300 teachers and 60 principals. The study used two sets of questionnaire: Parents’ Patronage of Private School Questionnaire (PPPSQ) and Teachers’ Opinion on Parents’ Patronage of Private Schools Questionnaire (TOPPSQ). Survey design was adopted and percentages, and frequencies techniques were used. The study found out that private secondary schools in the area were highly patronized by parents who were influenced by pride of school ownership, effective monitoring of school activities by proprietors, high level of students achievement among other factors. One of the recommendations made was that government should adhere strictly to maintenance of high quality of school facilities and standard in order to avoid mediocre schools. KEY WORDS: Assessment, Parents’ Patronage, Rural, Private – Schools.
New Product Distribution: An Analysis of Supermarket Buyer Decisions

This article explores the relationship between 18 variables and a supermarket buyer's decision to accept or reject a new product. One hundred twenty-four new products are analyzed by multiple discriminant analysis and a hierarchical threshold model termed a “gatekeeper” analysis. A new method of discriminant validation in small samples is also proposed.
THE ALLOCATION OF REAL ESTATE IN AN INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

In this study investors were informed of the benefits of diversification and the reduction of systematic risk when property is included in an asset allocation portfolio. It also provided investors with information that will assist them in deciding on asset class allocations, specifically including real estate within a mixed-asset portfolio for both the short and long term. The method applied to answer the research questions started with a detailed literature review in order to gain a thorough understanding of the topic. The second part involved a quantitative approach. The South African Property Index (SAPI), All Share Index (ALSI) and All Bond Index (ALBI) total returns were analysed using descriptive statistics in order to gain knowledge about the return (mean) and risk (standard deviation) performances of the three asset data series. The final part analysed the allocation weights of assets in a mixed portfolio to determine the optimal portfolio weights to either reduce risk or enhance returns. It was found for the period under review that property quarterly returns outperformed equity and bonds. The compound annual growth rate for the period was calculated and it was found that property had a growth rate of 26.1 per cent, equity a growth rate of 17.9 per cent and bonds a growth rate of 10.9 per cent. The risk rate for property was also determined and it was higher than for equity and bonds. The study also found a correlation between bonds and properties, meaning that adding bonds to a real estate portfolio would not give much diversification benefit. Equity to bonds had a negative correlation, showing diversification benefits of adding bonds to an equity portfolio. However, equity to property had a low correlation, meaning that adding property to an equity portfolio would reduce portfolio risk and increase returns. Should an investor not want to be exposed to more risk than simply holding one asset, namely bonds, a portfolio gives substantially higher returns without increasing the risk The study also observed the changes in the asset class returns during certain economic activities. Bonds were found to be the most resistant of the three asset classes and equity the most affected. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Can Institutional Investors Outperform the Market? Evidence from the Israeli Market

In this paper, we show that institutional investors, like pension funds, may outperform standard market portfolio benchmarks. These results agree with contemporary research on pension funds’ performance. Yet, the current research does not explain why do pension funds are able to outperform the benchmark while mutual funds cannot. We use an Israeli database. The Israeli regulator compels pension funds to file comprehensive monthly reports. This creates a unique database of data about Israeli pension funds. Employing this database, we find that funds’ outperformance is significantly mitigated when we apply APB (Active Peer Benchmark), which was not used in previous works. We are also able to correlate the residual alpha (the risk adjusted abnormal return) to illiquidity factors and question what the hidden risks behind pension funds outperformance may be.