IL-6 controls susceptibility to helminth infection by impeding Th2 responsiveness and altering the Treg phenotype in vivo

IL-6 plays a pivotal role in favoring T-cell commitment toward a Th17 cell rather than Treg-cell phenotype, as established through in vitro model systems. We predicted that in the absence of IL-6, mice infected with the gastrointestinal helminth Heligmosomoides polygyrus would show reduced Th17-cell responses, but also enhanced Treg-cell activity and consequently greater susceptibility. Surprisingly, worm expulsion was markedly potentiated in IL-6-deficient mice, with significantly stronger adaptive Th2 responses in both IL-6−/− mice and BALB/c recipients of neutralizing anti-IL-6 monoclonal Ab. Although IL-6-deficient mice showed lower steady-state Th17-cell levels, IL-6-independent Th17-cell responses occurred during in vivo infection. We excluded the Th17 response as a factor in protection, as Ab neutralization did not modify immunity to H. polygyrus infection in BALB/c mice. Resistance did correlate with significant changes to the associated Treg-cell phenotype however, as IL-6-deficient mice displayed reduced expression of Foxp3, Helios, and GATA-3, and enhanced production of cytokines within the Treg-cell population. Administration of an anti-IL-2:IL-2 complex boosted Treg-cell proportions in vivo, reduced adaptive Th2 responses to WT levels, and fully restored susceptibility to H. polygyrus in IL-6-deficient mice. Thus, in vivo, IL-6 limits the Th2 response, modifies the Treg-cell phenotype, and promotes host susceptibility following helminth infection

The composition of capital inflows when emerging market firms face financing constraints

The composition of capital inflows to emerging market economies tends to follow a predictable dynamic pattern across the business cycle. In most emerging market economies, total inflows are procyclical, with debt and portfolio equity flowing in first, followed later in the expansion by foreign direct investment (FDI). To understand the timing of these flows, we use a small open economy (SOE) framework to model the composition of capital inflows as the equilibrium outcome of emerging market firms' financing decisions. We show how costly external financing and foreign direct investment search costs generate a state contingent cost of financing, so that the "cheapest" source of financing depends on the phase of the business cycle. In this manner, the financial frictions are able to explain the interaction between the types of flows and deliver a time varying composition of flows, as well as other standard features of emerging market business cycles. If, as this work suggests, flows are an equilibrium outcome of firms' financing decisions then volatility of capital inflows is not necessarily "bad" for an economy. Furthermore, using capital controls to shut down one type of flow and encourage another is certain to have both long- and short-run welfare implications.Capital movements ; Emerging markets

Margin Calls, Trading Costs, and Asset Prices in Emerging Markets: The Finanical Mechanics of the 'Sudden Stop' Phenomenon

A central feature of emerging markets crises is the Sudden Stop' phenomenon characterized by large reversals of capital inflows and current accounts, deep recessions, and collapses in asset prices. This paper proposes an open-economy asset-pricing model with financial frictions that yields predictions in line with these observations. Margin requirements and information costs distort asset trading between a small open economy and foreign securities firms. If the economy's debt-equity ratio is low, standard productivity shocks cause normal recessions with smooth current-account adjustments. If the ratio is high, the same productivity shocks trigger margin calls forcing domestic agents to firesell equity to foreign traders who are slow to adjust their portfolios. This sets off a Fisherian asset-price deflation and subsequent rounds of margin calls. A current account reversal and a collapse in consumption occur if the fire-sale of assets cannot prevent a sharp increase in net foreign asset holdings.

Quantitative Implication of A Debt-Deflation Theory of Sudden Stops and Asset Prices

This paper shows that the quantitative predictions of an equilibrium asset pricing model with financial frictions are consistent with the large consumption and current-account reversals and asset-price collapses observed in the "Sudden Stops" of emerging markets crises. Margin requirements set a collateral constraint on foreign borrowing by domestic agents. Foreign traders incur costs in trading assets with domestic agents. Margin constraints bind occasionally depending on equilibrium portfolios and asset prices. When the constraints do not bind, productivity shocks cause standard real-business-cycle effects. When the constraints bind, shocks of the same magnitude cause strikingly different effects that vary with the leverage ratio and the liquidity of asset markets. With high leverage and liquid markets, the shocks trigger margin calls forcing "fire sales" of assets. Fisher's debt-deflation mechanism causes subsequent rounds of margin calls, a fall in asset prices and large consumption and current account reversals. The size of the price decline depends on trading costs parameters because these parameters determine the price elasticity of the foreign traders' asset demand function. Price declines of the magnitude observed in the data require a less-than-unitary price elasticity. Precautionary saving makes Sudden Stops infrequent in the long run so that the model can explain both regular business cycles and the unusually large reversals of consumption and current accounts associated with Sudden Stops.

The Cambridge World Shakespeare Encyclopedia: An International Digital Resource for Study, Teaching, and Research

The Cambridge World Shakespeare Encyclopedia, an innovative digital reference source and workspace, is designed for collaboration among scholars, teachers, students and performers worldwide. This project addresses three challenges for the transnational humanities today. It aggregates a wealth of dispersed resources in an encyclopedic, rational and dynamic way, mapping paths of discovery. It proposes a public-private partnership that balances copyright constraints with open access to primary and secondary materials. It combines user-generated content with peer review, modeling new modes of publication for the field. An international team is developing core content, commissioned by Cambridge University Press, who will build and host the site, making it sustainable. The Center for Transformative Scholarship (USC) will support prototype design and planning. The International Shakespeare Association will partner on the project, advancing intellectual exchange among its global membership

Comparison of two riparian assessment surveys : Proper Functioning Condition and the New Mexico Watershed Watch Riparian Survey

Riparian areas perform functions which in turn provide economic and environmental benefits. Many of the riparian areas in the Southwest are in degraded states. There is a need to determine the health of these ecosystems, in order to decide which need rehabilitation or restoration. Long term monitoring is necessary to assure projects are progressing towards goals, and prevent further degradation in response to new disturbances. Two riparian assessment surveys currently in use are the Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) and the New Mexico Watershed Watch Riparian Survey (NMWWRS). The PFC tool is a qualitative method utilized by government agencies such as the BLM and the Forest Service. The NMWWRS combines quantitative and qualitative measurements and is currently used by students and community members. The surveys are used to gather information regarding vegetation and geomorphology. The NMWWRS also includes parameters for stream flow and macroinvertebrates. This study compares the author\u27s results of these two surveys as well as the results for the PFC method as determined by BLM and Forest Service riparian specialists on 15 stream reaches in New Mexico. The evaluations using the two methods resulted in similar ratings for all 15 reaches. The BLM and Forest Service PFC ratings were on average a category higher (of three categories possible) for the Forest Service sites and one to two categories higher for the BLM sites, as compared to the author\u27s ratings

Transplanting Organ Donors with Printers: The Legal and Ethical Implications of Manufacturing Organs

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is no longer restricted to simple inanimate objects; that conjecture is a thing of the past. With advancements in many areas of science, living tissues and organs can now be printed through a technique called 3D bioprinting. This technology could potentially save the lives of the 120,000 Americans in need of an organ transplant. However, whether or not a 3D bioprinted organ qualifies as a “human organ” under the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) and whether 3D bioprinted organs require federal approval could either delay or completely bar this technology’s promise. The Ninth Circuit’s Flynn v. Holder and Richards v. Holder and the federal approval requirement for lab-grown organs bolster the interpretation that a manufactured organ would be a “human organ.” The ethical ramifications of 3D bioprinting might also detract from the benefits it promises to offer. If and until the federal government approves it, private creation and selling of 3D bioprinted organs would exacerbate organ selling on the black market. With increasing progressive ventures in medicine, it may be an appropriate time for Congress to amend NOTA

Truth or Dare: The Rules of Professional Conduct and Stretching the Discovery Boundaries - Mississippi Bar v. Land

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