Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of benzalkonium chloride and cyclosporine applied topically to rabbit conjunctiva: a histomorphometric study.

PURPOSE Chronic instillation of benzalkonium chloride, a preservative, has inflammatory effects on the ocular surface. However, addition of the anti-inflammatory agent cyclosporine to a therapeutic protocol may mitigate these effects. This study compared the toxic effects of a 0.1% benzalkonium chloride solution and the possible protective effect of 0.05% cyclosporine when applied topically to the rabbit conjunctiva. METHODS Fifteen age- and weight-matched, female New Zealand white rabbits were categorized into three groups and treated for 30 consecutive days. Group 1, 2, and 3 - benzalkonium chloride received 0.1% every 24 h, 0.05% cyclosporine every 6 h, and both treatments, respectively. In each rabbit, the left eye was subjected to treatment and the right eye was a control. The rabbits were euthanized at after the experiment. Goblet cells and blood vessels were then enumerated in conjunctival tissues stained with periodic acid-Schiff and hematoxylin-eosin, respectively. Differences between treated and untreated eyes and between groups were compared using the t-test and analysis of variance. RESULTS Benzalkonium chloride treatment, with and without cyclosporine, significantly reduced (p≤0.05) in the number of goblet cells in treatment eyes compared with that in respective control eyes. Alternatively, adding cyclosporine to benzalkonium chloride did not prevent the loss of conjunctival goblet cells, and a significant reduction in the number of goblet cells was noted. Benzalkonium chloride-induced significant increase in the number of new blood vessels was mitigated significantly by the addition of cyclosporine. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated the magnitude of conjunctival injury caused by chronic instillation of benzalkonium chloride. Although cyclosporine did not mitigate the effects on goblet cells, its addition minimized inflammatory angiogenesis induced by benzalkonium chloride.
Human Coronaviruses: A Review of Virus–Host Interactions

Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are known respiratory pathogens associated with a range of respiratory outcomes. In the past 14 years, the onset of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have thrust HCoVs into spotlight of the research community due to their high pathogenicity in humans. The study of HCoV-host interactions has contributed extensively to our understanding of HCoV pathogenesis. In this review, we discuss some of the recent findings of host cell factors that might be exploited by HCoVs to facilitate their own replication cycle. We also discuss various cellular processes, such as apoptosis, innate immunity, ER stress response, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway that may be modulated by HCoVs.
Molecular approaches for studying ascaridoid nematodes with zoonotic potential, with an emphasis on Toxocara species

Abstract Species-specific identification of ascaridoid nematodes at any developmental stage is a prerequisite for detailed investigation of the life cycles, systematics and epidemiology of this important group, and is also crucial for the diagnosis of associated infections. The morphological identification of some species and/ or their larval stages can, however, present considerable difficulty. Recently, PCR-based methods, using genetic markers in the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of ribosomal DNA, have been shown to provide reliable alternatives to more traditional methods for the specific identification of nematodes. This article provides an account of recent research on the development of PCR-based methods (utilizing ITS sequences) for the specific identification of ascaridoid nematodes of zoonotic potential, for the diagnosis of infections, and for the analysis of genetic variation within and among individual nematodes and their populations. Prospects for using these diagnostic and analytical tools to investigate epidemiological and population genetic questions relating to ascaridoid parasites are also discussed.
Diagnosing and Mitigating Market Power in Chile’s Electricity Industry

This paper examines the incentives to exercise market power that generators would face and the different strategies that they would follow if all electricity supplies in Chile were traded in an hourly-unregulated spot market. The industry is modeled as a Cournot duopoly with a competitive fringe; particular care is given to the hydro scheduling decision. Quantitative simulations of the strategic behavior of generators indicate that the largest generator (”Endesa”) would have the incentive and ability to exercise market power unilaterally. It would do so by scheduling its hydro resources, which are shown to be the real source of its market power, in order to take advantage of differences in price elasticity, too little supply to high demand periods and too much to low demand periods. The following market power mitigation measures are also analyzed, (a) requiring Endesa to divest some of its generating capacity to create more competitors and (b) requiring the dominant generators to enter into fixed price forward contracts for power covering a large share of their generating capacity. Splitting the largest producer in two or more smaller firms turns the market equilibrium closer to the competitive equilibrium as divested plants are more intensely used. Contracting practices proved to be an effective tool to prevent large producers from exercising market power in the spot market. In addition, a more efficient hydro scheduling resulted. Conditions for the development of a voluntary contract market are analyzed, as it is not practical to rely permanently on vesting contracts imposed for the transition period.
Anti-clockwise rotating shift work and health: would you prefer 3-shift or 4-shift operation?

BACKGROUND We explored the association between work schedules involving nightshifts and selected measures of health and whether these associations differed among those working in either 3- or 4-shift cycles. METHODS Employees at a German industrial company who worked on a fixed daytime schedule or on one involving nightshifts were invited to participate in this cross-sectional study. Work schedules involving a nightshift were organized into either 3 or 4 shifts rotated anti-clockwise on a weekly basis. Health characteristics included a range of clinical and physiological measures and self-reported data on stress and sleep quality. We assessed the independent association of work schedules involving any nightshift and these health characteristics in separate regression analyses, adjusting for age, gender, smoking, and alcohol consumption. RESULTS Nightshift work (N = 133) in general and 3-shift-work (N = 53) in particular was associated with decreased sleep quality (P < 0.001). Compared to those working daytime (N = 632), employees working on a 3-shift cycle had higher adjusted odds of meeting the definition of metabolic syndrome (OR = 2.56 [1.38, 4.75]). Employees working 4-shift cycles were somewhat less likely to have metabolic syndrome (OR = 1.22 [0.73, 2.05]) and had higher parasympathetic activity measured by heart rate variability (OR = 2.20 [1.04, 4.63]). CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest important relationships between shift schedule and a selected group of objective and subjective health measures. Additional research that further clarifies potential mechanisms underlying these relationships is needed.
Design criteria for synthetic riboswitches acting on transcription

Riboswitches are RNA-based regulators of gene expression composed of a ligand-sensing aptamer domain followed by an overlapping expression platform. The regulation occurs at either the level of transcription (by formation of terminator or antiterminator structures) or translation (by presentation or sequestering of the ribosomal binding site). Due to a modular composition, these elements can be manipulated by combining different aptamers and expression platforms and therefore represent useful tools to regulate gene expression in synthetic biology. Using computationally designed theophylline-dependent riboswitches we show that 2 parameters, terminator hairpin stability and folding traps, have a major impact on the functionality of the designed constructs. These have to be considered very carefully during design phase. Furthermore, a combination of several copies of individual riboswitches leads to a much improved activation ratio between induced and uninduced gene activity and to a linear dose-dependent increase in reporter gene expression. Such serial arrangements of synthetic riboswitches closely resemble their natural counterparts and may form the basis for simple quantitative read out systems for the detection of specific target molecules in the cell.
The impact of emotional intelligence on work engagement of registered nurses: the mediating role of organisational justice.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To explore the impact of emotional intelligence and organisational justice on work engagement in Chinese nurses and to examine the mediating role of organisational justice to provide implications for promoting clinical nurses' work engagement. BACKGROUND The importance of work engagement on nurses' well-being and quality of care has been well documented. Work engagement is significantly predicted by job resources. However, little research has concentrated simultaneously on the influence of both personal and organisational resources on nurses' work engagement. DESIGN A descriptive, cross-sectional design was employed. METHODS A total of 511 nurses from four public hospitals were enrolled by multistage sampling. Data collection was undertaken using the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Organizational Justice questionnaire and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9. We analysed the data using structural equation modelling. RESULTS Emotional intelligence and organisational justice were significant predictors and they accounted for 44% of the variance in nurses' work engagement. Bootstrap estimation confirmed an indirect effect of emotional intelligence on work engagement via organisational justice. CONCLUSIONS Emotional intelligence and organisational justice positively predict work engagement and organisational justice partially mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and work engagement. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Our study supports the idea that enhancing organisational justice can increase the impact of emotional intelligence. Managers should take into account the importance of emotional intelligence and perceptions of organisational justice in human resources management and apply targeted interventions to foster work engagement.
Forward/backward adaptation law for nonlinearly parameterized systems

Linear parameterizations is a central assumption in adaptive estimation and control strategies and it in turn becomes a bottleneck for prevalent applications of adaptive control in many nonlinearly parameterized systems encountered in practice. In literature, there have been some attempts to breakthrough this bottleneck by investigating the characteristics of nonlinearities in artistic arguments. However, it is still open for an implementable strategy that is powerful for nonlinearly parameterized systems as the certainty equivalence principle for linearly parameterized systems. This paper aims to contribute a novel attempt to this open problem by proposing an adaptation algorithm which does not explicitly rely on the expression of the nonlinearities and allows blind tuning for satisfactory performance. The algorithm is supported by rigorous analysis on asymptotic stability and parameter convergence as well as numerical simulation.
Subduction dynamics as revealed by trench migration

New estimates of trench migration rates allow us to address the dynamics of trench migration and back‐arc strain. We show that trench migration is primarily controlled by the subducting plate velocity Vsub, which largely depends on its age at the trench. Using the hot and weak arc to back‐arc region as a strain sensor, we define neutral arcs characterized by the absence of significant strain, meaning places where the forces (slab pull, bending, and anchoring) almost balance along the interface between the plates. We show that neutral subduction zones satisfy the kinematic relation between trench and subducting plate absolute motions: Vt = 0.5Vsub − 2.3 (in cm a−1) in the HS3 reference frame. Deformation occurs when the velocity combination deviates from kinematic equilibrium. Balancing the torque components of the forces acting at the trench indicates that stiff (old) subducting plates facilitate trench advance by resisting bending.
Autophagosomes contribute to intracellular lipid distribution in enterocytes

Delivery of alimentary lipids induces immediate autophagic response in enterocytes. Forming autophagosomes are recruited to the ER membrane, where they capture nascent lipid droplets and later fuse with lysosomes, illustrating for the first time the role of autophagy in neutral-lipid distribution in enterocytes.
YourWellness: designing an application to support positive emotional wellbeing in older adults

Emotional wellbeing is an important indicator of overall health in adults over 65. For some older people, age-related declines to physical, cognitive or social wellbeing can negatively impact on their emotional wellbeing, as can the notion of growing older, the loss of a spouse, a loss of sense of purpose or general worries about coping, becoming ill and/or death. Yet, within the field of technology design for older adults to support independence, emotional wellbeing is often overlooked. In this paper we describe the design process of an application that supports older adults in monitoring their emotional wellbeing, as well as other parameters of wellbeing they consider important to their overall health. This application also provides informative and useful feedback to support the older person in managing their wellbeing, as well as clinically-based interventions if it is determined that some action or behaviour change is required on the part of the older person. We outline findings from a series of focus groups with older adults that have contributed to the design of the YourWellness application.
Advanced engine diagnostics using artificial neural networks

Gas turbines are used for aero and marine propulsion, power generation and as mechanical drives for a wide range of industrial applications. Often, they are affected by gas path faults which have hitherto been diagnosed by techniques such as fault matrixes, fault trees and gas path analysis. In this paper, an artificial neural network system is applied. The system is trained to detect, isolate and assess faults in some of the components of a single spool gas turbine. The hierarchical diagnostic methodology adopted involves a number of decentralised networks trained to handle specific tasks. All sets of networks were tested with data not used for the training process. The results show that significant benefits can be derived from the actual application of this technique.
Automatic Recognition of Muscle-invasive T-lymphocytes Expressing Dipeptidyl-peptidase IV ( CD 26 ) and Analysis of the Associated Cell Surface Phenotypes

A neural cell detection system (NCDS) for the automatic quantitation of fluorescent lymphocytes in tissue sections was used to analyze CD26 expression in muscle-invasive T-cells. CD26 is a cell surface dipeptidyl-peptidase IV (DPP IV) involved in co-stimulatory activation of T-cells and also in adhesive events. The NCDS system acquires visual knowledge from a set of training cell image patches selected by a user. The trained system evaluates an image in 2 min calculating (i) the number, (ii) the positions and (iii) the phenotypes of the fluorescent cells. In the present study we have used the NCDS to identity DPP IV (CD26) expressing invasive lymphocytes in sarcoid myopathy and to analyze the associated cell surface phenotypes. We find highly unusual phenotypes characterized by differential combination of seven cell surface receptors usually involved in co-stimulatory events in T-lymphocytes. The data support a differential adhesive rather than a co-stimulatory role of CD26 in muscle-invasive cells. The adaptability of the NCDS algorithm to diverse types of cells should enable us to approach any invasion process, including invasion of malignant cells.
Who Blows the Whistle on Corporate Fraud?

What external control mechanisms are most effective in detecting corporate fraud? To address this question we study in depth all reported cases of corporate fraud in companies with more than 750 million dollars in assets between 1996 and 2004. We find that fraud detection does not rely on one single mechanism, but on a wide range of, often improbable, actors. Only 6% of the frauds are revealed by the SEC and 14% by the auditors. More important monitors are media (14%), industry regulators (16%), and employees (19%). Before SOX, only 35% of the cases were discovered by actors with an explicit mandate. After SOX, the performance of mandated actors improved, but still account for only slightly more than 50% of the cases. We find that monetary incentives for detection in frauds against the government influence detection without increasing frivolous suits, suggesting gains from extending such incentives to corporate fraud more generally.
AGRONOMY AND SOILS Effect of Carrier Volume and Nozzle Type on Cotton Harvest-aid Efficacy

Chemical defoliation of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in preparation for mechanical harvest can be difficult because of inconsistent response of plants to harvest-aid applications. Unsatisfactory harvest-aid performance is often blamed on environmental conditions, but proper selection of carrier volume and nozzle type may help to improve harvest-aid efficacy. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum combination of carrier volume and nozzle type for maximizing harvestaid efficacy. Desiccation, defoliation, and regrowth were evaluated on cotton treated with tribufos or thidiazuron alone at carrier volumes of 47, 94, and 140 L ha -1 with flat fan, hollow cone, or air induc tion nozzles. In Alexandria, carrier volume did not influence defoliation; however, defoliation with hollow cone and flat fan nozzles was at least 6% higher than defoliation with air induction nozzles at all evaluation dates regardless of carrier volume. In St. Joseph, percentage defoliation increased as carrier volume increased, and defoliation with flat fan and hollow cone nozzles was similar and superior to that of air induction nozzles. Carrier volumes ≥ 94 L ha -1 provided at least 10% more defoliation than 47 L ha -1 in Jackson, and performance of hollow cone nozzles was superior to both flat fan and air induction. A conclusion that can be drawn from these data are that harvest-aid applications should be made with flat fan or hollow cone nozzles at carrier volumes of at least 94 L ha -1 to maximize efficacy; however, the influence of carrier volume and nozzle type seem to be greater at more northern latitudes where environmental conditions often limit the performance of harvest-aids. Air induction nozzles should not be recommended for cotton defoliation due to inconsistent and inferior performance; however, they should still be considered in drift sensitive areas.
Determination of extraneous water in milk samples or the freezing point depression of milk samples

본 발명은 (a)하나 이상의 파장대에서 시료의 적외선(IR) 감쇠를 측정하고, (b), (a)의 측정치 및 하나 이상의 파장대에서의 적외선 감쇠와 외래수의 양 사이의 관계와 관련한 다변량 교정으로부터 유도된 예정 ㅗ히귀 계수에 기초하여 시료 중의 외래수의 양을 정량적으로 평가하는 단계로 이루어지는, 우유 시료에 함유된 외래수의 양을 정량적으로 평가하는 방법에 관한 것이다. 본 발명은 또한 시료의 빙점강하를 측정하는 유사한 방법에 관한 것이다. 또한, 본 발명은 우유 시료의 빙점 강하 또는 외래수의 양을 측정하는 장치에 사용되기 위한 일련의 회귀 계수를 수립하는 방법에 관한다.
Immunoglobulin D: Properties, Measurement, and Clinical Relevance

Discovered in 1965 ([134][1]), immunoglobulin D (IgD) is a unique immunoglobulin with a concentration in serum far below those of IgG, IgA, and IgM but much higher than that of IgE. Despite studies extending for more than 4 decades, a specific role for serum IgD has not been defined while for IgD
Comparing the effects of three pre-treatment disintegration techniques on aerobic sludge digestion: biodegradability enhancement and microbial community monitoring by PCR–DGGE

The objectives of this work were to compare and investigate the effect of three activated sludge disintegration processes before aerobic sludge digestion on 1) aerobic biodegradability enhancement and 2) microbial community evolution using the polymerase chain reaction–denaturant gel gradient electrophoresis (PCR–DGGE) technique. The comparison of three disintegration processes: thermal treatment (95 °C, 2 h), sonication (100,000 kJ/kg TS) and ozonation (0.108 g O3/g TS) showed that the disintegration processes acted differently according to the composition of the soluble phase and to the DNA damage. Thermal treatment led to significant protein solubilization and to DNA modification. Sonication and ozonation resulted in similar soluble phase compositions and did not lead to any DNA modifications. During activated sludge aerobic digestion, intrinsic biodegradability enhancement was observed for thermal and ozone activated sludge pre-treatments. The analysis of the DGGE patterns at the end of aerobic digestion showed that population diversity was affected by both the aerobic digestion and the pre-treatment. The dissimilarity percentages measured at the end of aerobic digestion in the control sample and in the treated sludge were equal to 22, 25 and 20% for thermal treatment, sonication and ozonation respectively. This study indicated that PCR–DGGE could be a useful tool for the comparison of disintegration processes before and after aerobic digestion.
The Multicache Simulation Environment Version 1 . 0 Reference Manual

Multicache is a trace-driven cache simulator developed to make the desi gn, analysis, and comparison of cache replacement algorithms in multi-le vel caching systems practical. To make the simulator generic and flexible architectural spe cifics (such as those found in processor caches) or protocol (HTTP, TCP/IP) details were e xcluded. The simulator is best for quick implementation, analysis and comparison of new ca che replacement algorithms that deal with web-proxy objects, file system files, disk bloc ks, memory pages, and other fixed or variable size objects. The simulator is easy to learn and expand. It provides many bu ilding blocks for wellknown replacement algorithms (LRU, LFU), space management routines, container data structures, and simple topologies. Topologies like client -server, server-storage pairs, web proxy hierarchies, and peer-to-peer networks can be implem ented. Modern caching related concepts such as using heterogeneou s algorithms, filtering effects, demotions are also evaluated. The structure of the si mulator allows multiple algorithms to have control over one cache space, allowing adapti ve techniques to be tested. The code is open source and is written in C++.