bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
High DNA Oxidative Damage in Systemic Sclerosis
Authors: AVOUAC JEROME , BORDERIE DIDIER , EKINDJIAN OVANESSE GARABED , KAHAN ANDRE , ALLANORE YANNICK 
Published: September 2010

Objective.Several lines of evidence suggest that the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is of major importance in the pathogenesis of SSc. Protein and lipid damage have previously been demonstrated, but scarce data are available on oxidative damage to DNA. In patients with SSc, we evaluated levels of 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), the main validated biomarker of endogenous oxidative damage to DNA, compared to levels of F2-isoprostane, a product of free radical-mediated peroxidation of arachidonic acid.Methods.Urinary levels of 8-oxodG and 8-isoprostaglandin-F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) were determined by competitive ELISA method in consecutive SSc patients and controls matched for age and sex.Results.We included 80 unrelated SSc patients (72 women, mean age 56 ± 11 yrs) and 39 controls (33 women, mean age 64 ± 8 yrs). Urinary levels of 8-oxodG/creat and 8-iso-PGF2α/creat in SSc patients were found to be higher than in controls (6.5 ng/mg vs 3.7 ng/mg, p = 0.0001; and 11.4 ng/mg vs 4.2 ng/mg, p < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, 8-oxodG levels were associated with the presence of pulmonary fibrosis on computerized tomography scan, decreased forced vital capacity, and decreased DLCO/alveolar volume. In patients with the diffuse cutaneous subset, a modified Rodnan skin score > 14 was independently associated with 8-oxodG levels. In SSc, 8-oxodG and 8-iso-PGF2α values were correlated (r = 0.32; p = 0.005).Conclusion.Our study confirmed marked oxidative stress in SSc. We also found increased values of 8-oxodG in SSc patients and a relevant association with a fibrotic phenotype. The predictive value of this marker and its potential influence on fibrotic disturbances remain to be determined.
Adad-nērārī III's Fifth Year in the Saba'a Stela. Historiographical Background
Authors: Hasegawa Shuichi 
Published: September 2010

Résumé Cet article traite d’un point de vue historiographique de la « 5 e année » du règne d’Adad-nērārī III, telle qu’elle est mentionnée dans la stèle de Saba’a. Cette « 5 e année » est depuis longtemps sujette à débat. Les incohérences des données chronologiques fournies par les Chroniques Eponymales et la Liste Royale Assyrienne ont donné lieu à plusieurs solutions. La datation du règne de ce souverain donnée par Poebel, c.-à-d., 810-783 av. J.-C., fait de la « 5 e année » d’Adad-nērārī l’an 806 av. J.-C., l’année de la campagne « contre les Mannéens » selon les Chroniques Eponymales. Néanmoins, le pays des Mannéens, situé au délà du Zagros, se trouve dans la direction opposée à celle où la campagne aurait été conduite par Adad-nērārī dans sa « 5 e année », à savoir, « le pays de Hatti ». Les solutions proposées, telle que supposer une campagne de deux ans en 806-805 av. J.-C., ou une erreur dans la stèle de Saba’a ou dans les Chroniques Eponymales, ne permettent pas de considérer la possibilité d’une manipulation de nombres par le scribe. L’emploi d’un comput annuel à la babylonienne dans cette inscription, comput étranger aux inscriptions royales assyriennes, peut révéler l’intention du scribe de dissimuler l’inactivité du roi dans sa 1 ère année de règne, c.-à-d. 810 av. J.-C., la date « dans le pays » selon les Chroniques éponymales. Cette manipulation sert à présenter une image d’un roi assyrien idéal, qui a émergé pour la première fois durant le règne de Salmanazar III.
Differential Modulation of TLR3- and TLR4-Mediated Dendritic Cell Maturation and Function by Progesterone
Authors: Jones Leigh A. , Kreem Shrook , Shweash Muhannad , Paul Andrew , Alexander James , Roberts Craig W. 
Published: September 2010

AbstractThe role of progesterone in modulating dendritic cell (DC) function following stimulation of different TLRs is relatively unknown. We compared the ability of progesterone to modulate murine bone marrow-derived DC cytokine production (IL-6 and IL-12) and costimulatory molecule expression (CD40, CD80, and CD86) induced by either TLR3 or TLR4 ligation and determined whether activity was via the progesterone receptor (PR) or glucocorticoid receptor (GR) by comparative studies with the PR-specific agonist norgestrel and the GR agonist dexamethasone. Progesterone was found to downregulate, albeit with different sensitivities, both TLR3- and TLR4-induced IL-6 production entirely via the GR, but IL-12p40 production via either the GR or PR. Of particular significance was that progesterone was able to significantly inhibit TLR3- but not TLR4-induced CD40 expression in bone marrow-derived DCs. Stimulation of the PR (with progesterone and norgestrel) by pretreatment of DCs was found to sustain IFN regulatory factor-3 phosphorylation following TLR3 ligation, but not TLR4 ligation. Overall, these studies demonstrate that progesterone can differentially regulate the signaling pathways employed by TLR3 and TLR4 agonists to affect costimulatory molecule expression and cytokine production.
Combined Administration of a Mutant TGF-β1/Fc and Rapamycin Promotes Induction of Regulatory T Cells and Islet Allograft Tolerance
Authors: Zhang Wensheng , Zhang Dong , Shen Miaoda , Liu Yun , Tian Yan , Thomson Angus W. , Lee W. P. Andrew , Zheng Xin Xiao 
Published: September 2010

Abstract
The critical roles of TGF-β in the reciprocal differentiation of tolerance-promoting CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and proinflammatory Th17 effector cells affect alloimmune reactivity and transplant outcome. We reasoned that a strategy to harness TGF-β and block proinflammatory cytokines would inhibit the differentiation of Th17 cells and strengthen the cadre of Tregs to promote tolerance induction and long-term allograft survival. In this study, we report the development of a long-lasting autoactive human mutant TGF-β1/Fc fusion protein that acts in conjunction with rapamycin to inhibit T cell proliferation and induce the de novo generation of Foxp3+ Treg in the periphery, while at the same time inhibiting IL-6–mediated Th17 cell differentiation. Short-term combined treatment with TGF-β1/Fc and rapamycin achieved long-term pancreatic islet allograft survival and donor-specific tolerance in a mouse model. This effect was accompanied by expansion of Foxp3+ Tregs, enhanced alloantigen-specific Treg function, and modulation of transcript levels of Foxp3, IL-6, and IL-17. Our strategy of combined TGF-β1/Fc and rapamycin to target the IL-6–related Tregs and Th17 signaling pathways provides a promising approach for inducing transplant tolerance and its clinical application.
IL-17 Promotes Immune Privilege of Corneal Allografts
Authors: Cunnusamy Khrishen , Chen Peter W. , Niederkorn Jerry Y. 
Published: September 2010

Abstract
Corneal allograft rejection has been described as a Th1-mediated process involving IFN-γ production. However, it has been reported that corneal allograft rejection soars in IFN-γ−/− mice or mice treated with anti–IFN-γ mAb. Th17 is a recently described IL-17A–producing Th cell population that has been linked to renal and cardiac graft rejection, which was originally thought to be Th1-mediated. We tested the hypothesis that Th17 cells mediate corneal allograft rejection in an IL-17A–dependent fashion and unexpectedly found that depletion of IL-17A increased the incidence of rejection to 90%. We demonstrate that the exacerbated rejection following depletion of IL-17A did not result from a loss of cross-regulation of Th1 cells or exaggerated delayed-type hypersensitivity responses. Instead, inhibition of the Th1 or Th17 cell lineages promoted the emergence of a Th2 cell subset that independently mediated allograft rejection. These findings demonstrate that IL-17A is not required for corneal allograft rejection and may instead contribute to the immune privilege of corneal allografts.
ALLOGENEIC TRANSPLANTATION FOR CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA
Authors: Laurenti Luca , Tarnani Michela , Chiusolo Patrizia , Sorà Federica , Sica Simona 
Published: September 2010

Even if Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) often has an indolent behavior with good responsiveness to cytoreductive treatment, about 20% of the patients, so called "poor-risk" patients, show an aggressive course and die within a few years despite early intensive therapies. Criteria for poor-risk disease according to the European Bone Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) CLL Transplant Consensus are: purine analogue refractoriness, early relapse after purine analogue combination therapy, CLL with p53 lesion requiring treatment.Allogeneic transplant has potential curative role in CLL, however burden with very high transplant related mortality (TRM) rates of 38-50%:A major advance in reducing the short-term morbidity and mortality of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) has been the introduction of non-myeloablative or reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) regimens to allow engraftment of allogeneic stem cells. There is no doubt that the crucial therapeutic principle of allo-SCT in CLL is graft versus leukemia (GVL) activity.The major complications of allogeneic SCT in CLL are: chronic graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) affecting quality of life, high graft rejection and infection rates rates correlated with preexisting immunosuppression. Disease relapse remains the major cause of failure after RIC allo-HCT in CLL patients.Sensitive minimal residual disease (MRD) quantification has strong prognostic impact after transplant.
Seigniorage
Authors: Buiter Willem H. 
Published: September 2010

AbstractGovernments through the ages have appropriated real resources through the monopoly of the ‘coinage’. In modern fiat money economies, the monopoly of the issue of legal tender is generally assigned to an agency of the state, the Central Bank, which may have varying degrees of operational and target independence from the government of the day.In this paper I analyse four different but related concepts, each of which highlights some aspect of the way in which the state acquires command over real resources through its ability to issue fiat money. They are (1) seigniorage (the change in the monetary base), (2) Central Bank revenue (the interest bill saved by the authorities on the outstanding stock of base money liabilities), (3) the inflation tax (the reduction in the real value of the stock of base money due to inflation and (4) the operating profits of the central bank, or the taxes paid by the Central Bank to the Treasury.To understand the relationship between these four concepts, an explicitly intertemporal approach is required, which focuses on the present discounted value of the current and future resource transfers between the private sector and the state. Furthermore, when the Central Bank is operationally independent, it is essential to decompose the familiar consolidated ‘government budget constraint’ and consolidated ‘government intertemporal budget constraint’ into the separate accounts and budget constraints of the Central Bank and the Treasury. Only by doing this can we appreciate the financial constraints on the Central Bank’s ability to pursue and achieve an inflation target, and the importance of cooperation and coordination between the Treasury and the Central Bank when faced with financial sector crises involving the need for long-term recapitalisation or when confronted with the need to mimick Milton Friedman’s helicopter drop of money in an economy faced with a liquidity trap.
Asymmetry and Spillover Effects in the North American Equity Markets
Authors: Canarella Giorgio , Sapra Sunil K. , Pollard Stephen K. 
Published: September 2010

Abstract
In this paper we examine the issue of asymmetry in the return and volatility spillover effects from the US equity market into the Canadian and Mexican equity markets. We model the conditional volatility of the returns in each of the three markets using the asymmetric power model of Ding, Granger and Engle (1993). The empirical findings indicate that the US market has a significant impact on the returns in the Canadian and Mexican markets. However, the findings for Canada vary considerably from those for Mexico. In particular, the empirical results indicate that volatility spillover effects, but not return spillover effects, exhibit an asymmetric behavior, with negative shocks from the US equity market impacting on the conditional volatility of the Canadian and Mexican equity markets more deeply than positive shocks. Moreover, while the impact of positive shocks from the US equity market is not much different between the two markets, this is not the case with negative shocks, which affect the volatility of the Mexican market more intensely than the volatility of the Canadian market.
Technology Shocks and Employment in Open Economies
Authors: Tervala Juha 
Published: September 2010

Abstract
A growing body of empirical evidence suggests that a positive technology shock leads to a temporary decline in employment. A two-country model is used to demonstrate that the open economy dimension can enhance the ability of sticky price models to account for the evidence. The reasoning is as follows. An improvement in technology appreciates the nominal exchange rate. Under producer-currency pricing, the exchange rate appreciation shifts global demand toward foreign goods away from domestic goods. This causes a temporary decline in domestic employment. If the expenditure-switching effect is sufficiently strong, a technology shock also has a negative effect on output in the short run.
Uncertain Retirement and the Effects of Social Insurance on Savings, Wealth, and Welfare
Authors: Bruce Neil , Turnovsky Stephen J. 
Published: September 2010

AbstractThe authors construct a Blanchard-style overlapping generations model consisting of long-lived individuals who have uninsurable idiosyncratic risk resulting from uncertain retirement periods and medical costs in retirement. Without social insurance, such individuals must save for these eventualities. The authors examine the impact of pay-as-you-go social insurance policies (public pensions and medicare coverage) on individual and aggregate consumption, saving, and wealth levels as well as wealth distribution. They also derive expressions for optimal (Pareto improving) social insurance policies.
Long Run Macroeconomic Relations in the Global Economy
Authors: Dees Stephane , Holly Sean , Pesaran M. Hashem , Smith L. Vanessa 
Published: September 2010

AbstractThis paper presents tests of long run macroeconomic relations involving interest rates, equity, prices and exchange rates suggested by arbitrage in financial and goods markets. It uses the global vector autoregressive (GVAR) model to test for long run restrictions in each country/region conditioning on the rest of the world. Bootstrapping is used to compute both the empirical distribution of the impulse responses and the log-likelihood ratio statistic for over-identifying restrictions. The paper also examines the speed with which adjustments to the long run relations take place via the persistence profiles. It finds strong evidence in favour of a long run version of uncovered interest parity and to a lesser extent the Fisher equation across a number of countries, but the test results for the purchasing power parity relation are much weaker. Also the transmission of shocks and subsequent adjustments in financial markets are much faster than those in goods markets.
Taking a DSGE Model to the Data Meaningfully
Authors: Juselius Katarina , Franchi Massimo 
Published: September 2010

AbstractAll economists say that they want to take their models to the data. But with incomplete and highly imperfect data, doing so is difficult and requires carefully matching the assumptions of the model with the statistical properties of the data. The cointegrated VAR (CVAR) offers a way of doing so. In this paper we outline a method for translating the assumptions underlying a DSGE model into a set of testable assumptions on a cointegrated VAR model and illustrate the ideas with the RBC model in Ireland (2004). Accounting for unit roots (near unit roots) in the model is shown to provide a powerful robustification of the statistical and economic inference about persistent and less persistent movements in the data. We propose that all basic assumptions underlying the theory model should be formulated as a set of testable hypotheses on the long-run structure of a CVAR model, a so called ‘theory consistent hypothetical scenario’. The advantage of such a scenario is that it forces us to formulatealltestable implications of the basic hypotheses underlying a theory model. We demonstrate that most assumptions underlying the DSGE model and, hence, the RBC model are rejected when properly tested. Leaving the RBC model aside, we then report a structured CVAR analysis that summarizes the main features of the data in terms of long-run relations and common stochastic trends. We argue that structuring the data in this way offers a number of ‘sophisticated’ stylized facts that a theory model should replicate in order to claim empirical relevance.
Some Flexible Parametric Models for Partially Adaptive Estimators of Econometric Models
Authors: Hansen Christian B. , McDonald James B. , Theodossiou Panayiotis 
Published: September 2010

Abstract
This paper provides a survey of three families of flexible parametric probability density functions (the skewed generalized t, the exponential generalized beta of the second kind, and the inverse hyperbolic sine distributions) which can be used in modeling a wide variety of econometric problems. A figure, which can facilitate model selection, summarizing the admissible combinations of skewness and kurtosis spanned by the three distributional families is included. Applications of these families to estimating regression models demonstrate that they may exhibit significant efficiency gains relative to conventional regression procedures, such as ordinary least squares estimation, when modeling non-normal errors with skewness and/or leptokurtosis, without suffering large efficiency losses when errors are normally distributed. A second example illustrates the application of flexible parametric density functions as conditional distributions in a GARCH formulation of the distribution of returns on the S&P500. The skewed generalized t can be an important model for econometric analysis.
Evaluating Inflation Targeting Using a Macroeconometric Model
Authors: Fair Ray C. 
Published: September 2010

AbstractThis paper uses a structurally estimated macroeconometric model, denoted the MC model, to evaluate inflation targeting in the United States. Various interest rate rules are tried with differing weights on inflation and output, and various optimal control problems are solved using differing weights on inflation and output targets. Price-level targeting is also considered. The results show that 1) there are output costs to inflation targeting, especially for price shocks, 2) price-level targeting is dominated by inflation targeting, 3) the estimated interest rate rule of the Fed (in Table 4) is consistent with the Fed placing equal weights on inflation and unemployment in a loss function, 4) the estimated interest rate rule does a fairly good job at lowering variability, and 5) considerable economic variability is left after the Fed has done its best. Overall, the results suggest that the Fed should continue to behave as it has in the past.
Do News Shocks Drive Business Cycles? Evidence from German Data
Authors: Haertel Thomas , Lucke Bernd 
Published: September 2010

Abstract
We study the Beaudry and Portier (2006)-hypothesis of delayed-technology diffusion and news-driven business cycles. For German data on TFP and stock prices we find qualitatively similar empirical evidence. Quantitatively, however, an impulse response analysis suggests that a substantial part of the total TFP response is immediate rather than delayed. We relate this to disembodied technological change and noisy data on TFP. Nevertheless, we confirm the technology interpretation of structural shocks by showing that they are Granger-causal for data on patents granted by the German patent agency. We also show that these shocks generate comovement of macro variables at business cycle horizons and account for a sizable share of the forecast error variance of these variables in the medium and long run.
Growing up to Financial Stability
Authors: Bordo Michael D. 
Published: September 2010

AbstractThis lecture revisits the evidence on the incidence and severity of different varieties of financial crises within the context of globalization then (pre-1914) and now (1980 to the present). I then discuss the determinants of emerging market crises from the perspective of the recent balance sheet approach. This approach puts at center stage the importance of financial development. I then peel the onion back further and consider the “deep” institutional determinants of financial development and their relationship to financial stability. I conclude by conjecturing about the ways countries learn from their financial crises to improve their institutions and grow up to financial stability.
Is Old Money Better than New? Duration and Monetary Regimes
Authors: Mihov Ilian , Rose Andrew K. 
Published: September 2010

Abstract
We compare the duration and performance of different monetary regimes, especially the contrast between countries those that fix exchange rates and those that target inflation. Inflation targeting is a more durable policy; no country has yet been forced to abandon an inflation target, while many have abandoned fixed exchange rates. Indeed, even though inflation targeting began only in 1990, the duration of inflation targeting regimes is at least as long as, or longer than all alternative monetary regimes for comparable countries. Regime duration also matters in monetary policy; older regimes are typically more successful than younger ones in achieving low inflation.
A Model of the IMF as a Coinsurance Arrangement
Authors: Chami Ralph , Sharma Sunil , Shim Ilhyock 
Published: September 2010

Abstract
The paper shows that an IMF-like coinsurance arrangement among countries can play a useful role in the global financial system. The operation of the coinsurance arrangement is examined under different loan contracts. It shows that, if the IMF’s objective is to safeguard its resources and be concerned about the welfare of the borrower, an ex ante loan contract is more likely to create the right incentives than an ex post loan contract. Such contracts highlight the need for precommitment to contend with the Samaritan’s dilemma and time inconsistency, and state-contingent repayment schemes to deal with King Lear’s dilemma.
Are All Measures of International Reserves Created Equal? An Empirical Comparison of International Reserve Ratios
Authors: Cheung Yin-Wong , Wong Clement Yuk-Pang 
Published: September 2010

AbstractUsing available annual data of 174 economies since 1957, we examine the similarities and differences of seven international reserve ratios. While individual international reserve ratios display substantial variations across economies, they are associated with an economy’s characteristics including geographic location, income level, stage of development, degree of indebtedness, and exchange rate regime. The association pattern varies across time and type of international reserve ratios. Interestingly, there is only limited evidence that Asian and non-Asian economies have significantly different international reserve hoarding behavior. Our results suggest that the inference about whether an economy is hoarding too many or too few international reserves depends on the choice of international reserve ratio. Further, different international reserve ratios exhibit different persistence profiles, but the evidence of dependence on structural characteristics is rather weak.