Search results for "TRADE"
showing 10 items of 1475 documents
Trade Openness and Income: A Tale of Two Regions
2015
In this article we present evidence of the long-run effect of trade openness on income per worker for two regions that have followed different liberalization strategies, namely Asia and Latin America. A model that re-examines these questions is estimated for two panels of Asian and Latin American countries over the 1980-2008 period using a novel empirical approach that accounts for endogeneity as well as for the time series properties of the variables involved. From an econometric point of view, we apply recent panel cointegration techniques based on factor models that account for two additional elements usually neglected in previous empirical literature: cross-dependence and structural bre…
Keratinocyte-Derived Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor Accelerates Wound Healing: Stimulation of Keratinocyte Proliferation, Granulati…
2001
Chronic, nonhealing wounds represent a major clinical challenge to practically all disciplines in modern medicine including dermatology, oncology, surgery, and hematology. In skin wounds, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is secreted by keratinocytes shortly after injury and mediates epidermal cell proliferation in an autocrine manner. Many other cells involved in wound healing including macrophages, lymphocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and dendritic cells synthesize GM-CSF and/or are targets of this cytokine. Therefore, GM-CSF is a pleiotropic cytokine evoking complex processes during wound repair. Despite this complexity and the scarcity of mechanistic unde…
Anti-Inflammatory Triterpenes from Pistacia terebinthus Galls
2002
From the galls of Pistacia terebinthus we obtained an extract that proved to be effective against chronic and acute inflammation. Now we report on the isolation and identification of three triterpenes: two tirucallane-type lanostanoids and one oleanane, which we have identified as masticadienonic acid (1), masticadienolic acid (2), and morolic acid (3), respectively. All of them showed effectiveness on the mouse ear inflammation induced by repeated applications of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate and on the phospholipase A2-induced foot paw edema. The pharmacological activity of the compounds was ratified by a histological study of the ear samples. In addition, they inhibited leukotrien…
Three New Oleanane Saponins from Zanha africana
1997
Three new saponins, zanhasaponins, A, B, and C, were isolated from the MeOH extract of the root bark of Zanha africana and were, respectively, identified by spectroscopic methods as 3-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl-2 beta,16 alpha-dihydroxyolean-12-ene-23,28- dioic acid 28-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside (1); 3-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl-2 beta,16 alpha-dihydroxyolean-12-ene- 23,28-dioic acid 28-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl(1-->2)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2)-alpha-L- rhamnopyranoside (2); and 3-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl-2 beta,16 alpha-dihydroxyolean-12-ene- 23,28-dioic acid 28-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl(1-->3)-beta-D-xylopyranosyl (1-->2)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2)-a…
Two polymorphs Ni(II) complexes containing the dicyanamide ligand: syntheses, structures and magnetic properties of {[Ni(meso-CTH)(μ1,5-dca)]ClO4}n a…
2004
Abstract Two polymorphs Ni(II) complexes {[Ni(meso-CTH)(μ1,5-dca)]ClO4}n (1) and [Ni(meso-CTH)][Ni(meso-CTH)(dca)2](ClO4)2 (2) have been obtained in the same synthesis from dicyanamide (dca) and [Ni(meso-CTH)](ClO4)2 and have been characterized by X-ray crystallography and magnetic measurements. Complex 1 is a 1D cationic polymeric zig-zag chain with single end-to-end dca bridges connecting Ni(II) ions in trans positions, whereas in compound 2 coexist two different types of Ni(II) mononuclear units, cationic square-planar and neutral octahedral. Variable-temperature magnetic measurements reveal weak ferromagnetic interactions across the single end-to-end dca bridges in 1, while for 2 the ma…
Sexual selection, phenotypic plasticity and female reproductive output
2019
In a rapidly changing environment, does sexual selection on males elevate a population's reproductive output? If so, does phenotypic plasticity enhance or diminish any such effect? We outline two routes by which sexual selection can influence the reproductive output of a population: a genetic correlation between male sexual competitiveness and female lifetime reproductive success; and direct effects of males on females' breeding success. We then discuss how phenotypic plasticity of sexually selected male traits and/or female responses (e.g. plasticity in mate choice), as the environment changes, might influence how sexual selection affects a population's reproductive output. Two key points…
Independent and interactive effects of immune activation and larval diet on adult immune function, growth and development in the greater wax moth (Ga…
2018
Organisms in the wild are likely to face multiple immune challenges as well as additional ecological stressors, yet their interactive effects on immune function are poorly understood. Insects are found to respond to cues of increased infection risk by enhancing their immune capacity. However, such adaptive plasticity in immune function may be limited by physiological and environmental constraints. Here, we investigated the effects of two environmental stressors - poor larval diet and an artificial parasite-like immune challenge at the pupal stage - on adult immune function, growth and development in the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella). Males whose immune system was activated with an …
Testosterone and oxidative stress: the oxidation handicap hypothesis
2007
Secondary sexual traits (SST) are usually thought to have evolved as honest signals of individual quality during mate choice. Honesty of SST is guaranteed by the cost of producing/maintaining them. In males, the expression of many SST is testosterone-dependent. The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis has been proposed as a possible mechanism ensuring honesty of SST on the basis that testosterone, in addition to its effect on sexual signals, also has an immunosuppressive effect. The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis has received mixed support. However, the cost of testosterone-based signalling is not limited to immunosuppression and might involve other physiological functions such as the…
Environmental stress affects the expression of a carotenoid-based sexual trait in male zebra finches.
2007
SUMMARY Abiotic factors including thermal stress are suggested to exert constrains on sexual ornaments through trade-offs between sexual displays and physiological functions related to self-maintenance. Given the health properties of carotenoid pigments, carotenoid-based ornaments offer a relevant context in which to investigate the effect of environmental stress, such as ambient temperature, on the production and maintenance of secondary sexual traits and, also, to explore the proximate mechanisms shaping their expression. In this study, we exposed male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) to environmental stress by exposing them to two temperature regimes (6 and 26°C) over a 4 week period.…
Polymorphonuclear leukocyte integrins in deep venous thrombosis
2005
The polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) have a role in the pathophysiology of deep venous thrombosis (DVT). We examined the phenotypical expression of PMN beta2-integrins (CD l l a, CDl l b, CD 11c) in a group of 19 subjects with leg DVT. PMN cells were incubated with fluorescent monoclonal antibodies against CD11a, CD11b, CD11c, and the evaluation was made by flow cytofluorimetry. The same integrins were determined after in vitro activation with 4-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and N-formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP). In DVT subjects, at baseline, the phenotypical expression of CD11b was decreased and that of CD11c increased when compared with normal controls. In normal su…