Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A clinical study of the pre-corneal tear film in diabetic and non-diabetic persons- a case control study

Introduction: Several local and systemic disorders predispose to the development of dry eye disease, common among them being diabetes mellitus. This study aims to assess the incidence of dry eye in diabetics and analyse the factors worsening dry eye in these patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 patients were included in the study. The participants were grouped under two groups- diabetics and non- diabetics group (control). All patients underwent a thorough ophthalmic examination including visual acuity, slit lamp biomicroscopy of anterior segment. Corneal sensation, tear film break up time, schirmers test, flourescein staining, Rose Bengal and lissamine green staining were also done. Results: Four hundred eyes of two hundred patients were included. There were a total of 86 (43%) males and 114 (57%) females in the study. The mean age of males was 50.13 years and the mean age of females was 50.27 years. In diabetics, 38 eyes (19%) had dry eye, out of which 24 eyes (63.15) were outdoor workers and 14 eyes (36.84%) were indoor workers and in non-diabetics, 14 eyes (7%) had dry eye out of which 12 eyes (85.71%) were of outdoor workers and 2 eyes (14.28%) were of indoor workers. Outdoor workers had statistically significant high risk of developing dry eye compared to indoor workers. Out of 52eyes with dry eye, 23 (88.46%) out of the 26 affected individuals were above 50 years of age and 3 (11.53%) were below 50 years of age. TBUT test was positive in 18 eyes (9%) in non-diabetics and 38 eyes (19%) in diabetic group. The schirmers values were significantly lower in diabetics compared to non-diabetics. Conclusion: Diabetic patients are at more risk of developing dry eye compared to controls. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Dry eye, Schirmers test.
Getting a Handle on It: A First Step Towards Understanding the Cognitive Evolutionary Processes Underlying Changes in the Archaeological Record that Relate to Pliocene and Pleistocene Hand-Held Tool and Hafted Tool Technologies

The main aim of this project is to be able to describe the changes in cognitive ability that have to take place to enable a hominin group that was formerly only able to produce assemblages consisting of reductive or knapped hand-held stone tools, to become a group able to produce a mixed assemblage containing both reductive hand-held tools and also combinatorial hafted tools. Unlike reductive stone tools, hafted tools have pre-processed separate parts that are engineered to fit together to form a single object. Secondary project aims immediately became necessary to support this main aim. The first was to describe the two different groups of tools in a way that showed them as different stages of the same technological dynamic of change. The second was to describe how best to define the over-used word ‘cognition’ in evolutionary terms. The third was to describe how such cognition might change over time in biological terms and also in terms of new cognitive and action potential. It was then necessary to analyse the different technologies included in the period of change considered between 3.3Mya to 0.03Mya, with particular emphasis on the transition between Early to Middle Stone Age and hafted technologies in both Africa and Eurasia. This, and the nature of the cognitive theory chosen as most promising for the project, required the innovation of a new analytical method which focussed on the motor-action or gestural sequences of the technology manufacturer rather than on the finished morphology of the artefacts themselves. Each tool-type gestural sequence was manually coded and then carefully analysed in order to identify gestural pattern commonalities and changes over time. Results show changes in the gestural patterns across the different coded technologies which suggest that evolutionary change is gradual and cumulative, but with moments of emergence when component parts come together to form something new and literally greater than the sum of its parts. Cognitive change is shown to move between a fast and highly effective but implicit, non-language-based cognitive system that relies heavily on rhythmic repetition (early knapping technologies), to a newer system that retains its original ability to use rhythmic repetition but can also incorporate conscious moments of planning, high-level action sequencing, and single discrete actions connected with more derived brain-body systems. This new method of analysis amounts to an exciting innovation that offers up new opportunities to research the evolution of cognition in a more holistic framework both within a single species, and also between different species, particularly of course between modern humans, hominins and modern great apes.
Antisemitic Prejudice and Political Antisemitism in Present-Day Hungary

The article analyzes the newest survey results on antisemitic prejudices, antisemitic political discourses, and political antisemitism in present-day Hungary. According to the research findings, during the first decade and a half after the fall of communism, 10%-15% of the Hungarian adult population held a strong antisemitic prejudice. Surveys conducted after 2006 show not only an increase in the absolute percentage of antisemites, but also an increase in the proportion of antisemites who embed their antisemitism in the political context. This phenomenon is linked with the appearance on the political scene of Jobbik, a more or less openly antisemitic party. When examining the causes of antisemitism, the most interesting finding was that the strength of antisemitic feelings is regionally different and that these differences correlate with the strength of Jobbik’s support in the various regions. Accordingly, we hypothesized that support for a far-right party is not a consequence of antisemitism, but conversely should be regarded as a factor that mobilizes attitudes leading to antisemitism. Thus, antisemitism is—at least in large part—a consequence of an attraction to the far right rather than an explanation for it. While analyzing antisemitic discourse, we found that the primary function of the discourse is not to formulate anti-Jewish political demands but to establish a common identity for groups that, for various reasons and motives, have turned against the liberal parliamentary system that replaced communism.
Modelling the time-evolution of phytoplankton size spectra from satellite remote sensing

A dynamic size-structured model is developed for phytoplankton and nutrients in the oceanic mixed layer and applied to extract phytoplankton biomass at discrete size fractions from remotely sensed, ocean-colour data. General relationships between cell size and biophysical processes (such as sinking, grazing, and primary production) of phytoplankton were included in the model through a bottom – up approach. Time-dependent, mixed-layer depth was used as a forcing variable, and a sequential data-assimilation scheme was implemented to derive model trajectories. From a given time-series, the method produces estimates of size-structured biomass at every observation, so estimates seasonal succession of individual phytoplankton size, derived here from remote sensing for the first time. From these estimates, normalized phytoplankton biomass size spectra over a period of 9 years were calculated for one location in the North Atlantic. Further analysis demonstrated that strong relationships exist between the seasonal trends of the estimated size spectra and the mixed-layer depth, nutrient biomass, and total chlorophyll. The results contain useful information on the time-dependent biomass flux in the pelagic ecosystem.
Host specificity and rejection of Schistocephalus solidus

1. Procercoids of Schistocephalus solidus reared in copepods were found to infect marine and freshwater varieties of Gasterosteus aculeatus, and Pungitius pungitius, but not Barbus ‘Schuberti’. 2. In primary infections growth of S. solidus plerocercoids in P. pungitius was much slower than in G. aculeatus and ceased after 6–8 days; plerocercoids were dead by day 11 at 19·5 °C, and by day 14 at 10 °C. 3. A challenge infection, following two previous infections given 14 and 28 days before, becomes established in G. aculeatus, but in P. pungitius plerocercoids are rejected within 3–5 days. 4. The possible rejection mechanism involved in P. pungitius to primary and tertiary infections is discussed and electronmicrographic evidence presented of a degenerative change in the tegument visible by 8 days in a primary infection. Prior to 8 days the survival and growth of S. solidus plerocercoids surgically transferred to G. aculeatus, indicated no irreversible damage had occurred.
Immunoglobulin μ Heavy Chains Do Not Mediate Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Igα from the ER-cis-Golgi 1

Signals delivered by Ig receptors guide the development of functional B lymphocytes. For example, clonal expansion of early μ heavy chain (μHC)-positive pre-B cells requires the assembly of a signal-competent pre-B cell receptor complex (pre-BCR) consisting of a μHC, a surrogate L chain, and the signal dimer Igαβ. However, only a small fraction of the pre-BCR is transported to the cell surface, suggesting that pre-BCR signaling initiates already from an intracellular compartment, e.g., the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The finding that differentiation of pre-B cells and allelic exclusion at the IgH locus take place in surrogate L chain-deficient mice further supports the presence of a μHC-mediated intracellular signal pathway. To determine whether a signal-competent Ig complex can already be assembled in the ER, we analyzed the consequence of pervanadate on tyrosine phosphorylation of Igα in J558L plasmacytoma and 38B9 pre-B cells transfected with either a transport-competent IgL chain-pairing or an ER-retained nonpairing μHC. Flow cytometry, combined Western blot-immunoprecipitation-kinase assays, and confocal microscopy revealed that both the nonpairing and pairing μHC assembled with the Igαβ dimer; however, in contrast to a pairing μHC, the nonpairing μHC was retained in the ER-cis-Golgi compartment, and neither colocalized with the src kinase lyn nor induced tyrosine phosphorylation of Igα after pervanadate treatment of cells. On the basis of these findings, we propose that a signal-competent Ig complex consisting of μHC, Igαβ, and associated kinases is assembled in a post-ER compartment, thereby supporting the idea that a pre-BCR must be transported to the cell surface to initiate pre-BCR signaling.
Bone loss in total knee replacement: a rational approach to management

Dealing with bone defects in primary and revision knee arthroplasty is challenging and requires careful planning to define and quantify the deficiency. Pre-operative clinical, radiological and intra-operative assessment facilitates the classification of the defect and instructs in the appropriate bone replacement and implant strategy. This paper reviews the assessment and treatment options.
Tissue-specific Regulation of Immune Responses to Dietary Proteins

markdownabstract__Abstract__ The term oral (or mucosal) tolerance has been defined as the suppression of T- and B-cell responses to an antigen by prior administration of the antigen by the oral route . From this definition, it can be inferred that mucosal tolerance is not just the ignorance of antigens that are applied via the mucosa or the absence of an immune response, but quite the contrary, mucosal tolerance refers to a dynamic process that depends on the active suppression of antigen-specific immune responses. Although such induction of immunological tolerance is not exclusive for antigens encountered via the mucosa and can be achieved outside the mucosal environment as well, it is well established that specific features of mucosal tissues favor the induction of tolerance. Here we discuss the mechanisms that are required for the induction of mucosal tolerance and the unique properties of the mucosal microenvironment that allow for intestinal homeostasis and the development of mucosal tolerance.
Virus and bacteria dynamics of a coastal sediment: Implication for benthic carbon cycling

We measured microbial heterotrophic activity, bacteria, and virus‐like particle (VLP) abundance in homogenized, undiluted, and anoxic enclosures of sediment collected at a coastal station. The bacterial growth rate and VLP net production increased along with the respiratory activity in response to temperature. This suggests that VLPs represent a dynamic component of benthic microbial communities and that the net production of viriobenthos is regulated by the metabolic activity of bacteria. The abundance, net production, and decay rate of VLPs were significantly higher than those encountered in most pelagic systems. However, the rates were lower than the very few available potential rates (three studies) of viriobenthic activity, which all were obtained applying different slurry approaches. Our measurements support the general observation that virus abundance and production correlate with the trophic status of the environment and show that microbial activity can regulate the viriobenthic production in undiluted, homogenized marine sediments. The virus‐induced bacterial mortality corresponded to ~20% of bacterial net production and ~2% h−1 of the total bacterial population. This is moderate compared with the results of most pelagic studies, and the associated leakage of lysates (dissolved organic carbon) only amounted to 4‐8% of the produced dissolved inorganic carbon. Despite high standing stocks and relatively high turnover rates, VLP‐induced bacterial lysis represented only a minor shunt in the benthic carbon cycle at the investigated site.
Macro- and Micro-Habitat Characteristics Of Kuenzler'S Hedgehog Cactus, Echinocereus fendleri VAR Kuenzleri

Abstract Kuenzler's hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var kuenzleri) is an endangered species thought to be endemic to south central New Mexico on the eastern slopes of the Sacramento, Capitan, and Guadalupe Mountains. We studied macro- and micro-habitat characteristics of Kuenzler's cactus in four study areas in Lincoln and Eddy Counties, New Mexico. Plants were found mostly on southern and eastern aspects at elevations from 1600 to 2100 m and on slopes ranging from 7 to 41°. Herbaceous biomass and foliar cover were similar at three spatial scales (concentric circles with diameters of 30, 56, and 110 cm) surrounding plants. These results suggest that Kuenzler's cacti are randomly distributed with respect to these habitat features, and do not support the hypothesis that Kuenzler's cacti grow in local habitats where associated vegetation provides thermal protection.
Automatic Learning Technology of Railway Based on Deep Learning for Railway Obstacle Avoidance

Railway identification is the key to dividing the dangerous area and safety area of the rail surface. It is also the key technology for the detection of rail surface obstacles. The problem is that the traditional rail detection edge detection effect is not good and the illumination environment is seriously affected. This paper proposes a track recognition detection system based on deep learning. The system can not only identify the rails, but also plan the dangerous areas, apply the convolutional neural network, extract the feature information of the rails in different environments, and use the Mask R-CNN instance segmentation algorithm. The identification of the rails and the division of the dangerous areas are carried out to achieve accurate and rapid detection. The test results show that the system has high anti-interference and accuracy.
A Review Of Web Mining Research

Today, with the huge amount of information available online, the World Wide Web is a fertile area for data mining research. Nowadays Web users are facing the problems of information overload and drowning due to the significant and rapid growth in the amount of information and the number of users. As a result, how to provide Web users with more exactly needed information is becoming a critical issue in web-based information retrieval and Web applications. The Web mining research is at the cross road of research from several research communities such as database, information retrieval, AI, Machine learning and natural language processing etc. In this paper authors discuss the number of researches carried out in the area of web mining. This paper describes the importance of web mining process to improve the performance of Web information retrieval. They also aim to address how the adoption of Web Mining is essential for banking organizations to identify, preserve and disseminate best context of e-service practices which is useful to tell, how to provide customer with more exactly needed and accurate on line information to achieve business goal.
Selection in Cultivar Trials—Is It Ignorable?

Crop cultivar registration requires multienvironment trials for assessing the value for cultivation and use (VCU). The series of trials usually extends across 3 yr, with some cultivars being discarded each year. Selection gives rise to a missing-data or drop-out pattern that is not completely random. The present paper studies the effect of drop-out on the validity of mixed model procedures such as REML and BLUP. It is shown on the basis of the pertinent statistical theory and simulations that selection is ignorable providing that all data used in the selection process are included in the analysis. Simulations show that REML is preferable to ML and BLUP is preferable to BLUE. It is suggested that cultivar registration authorities can benefit from multivariate mixed model analyses comprising all traits on which selection is based.
Genetic variation of western larch in British Columbia and its conservation

The extent and pattern of genic variability at 20 allozyme loci were estimated in nine populations representing the British Columbia natural range of western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.). In addition, an attempt was made to identify genetically unique populations for conservation efforts. Heterozygosity parameters [number of alleles per locus (1.8), percent polymorphic loci (58), and average expected heterozygosity (He; 0.188)] indicated that the species harbors levels of genetic variation comparable to other wide-ranging, long-lived, outcrossing, wind-pollinated species. Levels of genetic variability in the British Columbia populations were higher than their American counterparts. Among-population differentiation (GST) accounted for a significant 7% of the total variation. Correlation between the genetic and geographic distances was highly significant (P , .01), indicating that geographically close populations tended to be genetically similar. Genetically unique populations were identified by ‘‘jackknife’’ analysis, which excluded one population at a time and compared the resultant average genetic distance (D), GST, and gene flow (Nm) of the analysis with the original analysis conducted on all nine populations. Two populations were identified to be genetically unique and were recommended for consideration for conservation efforts.
Allocating Costs of Environmental Management among Generations : A Case of Environmental Liabilities in Transition Economies

The objective of this paper is to examine cost allocation in relation to remediating environmental liability issues in Russia, where significant environmental damages, continuing from the Soviet era, present serious impediments to pursuing sustainable development. The research attempts to highlight citizens f preferences for remediating facilities and sites with environmental liabilities, and elicits preference differences among citizens using choice experiment methods. Intergenerational issues are involved in addressing environmental liabilities in transition economies because the causes and effects are spread among generations. Therefore, evaluating citizens f preferences provides more policy implications for future remediation initiatives. The econometric analysis reveals that citizens demonstrate positive preferences for reducing pollution of drinking water and soil decontamination. The research also suggests that the households with higher incomes, older household heads (or spouses), and more young children have higher preferences for remediating environmental liabilities in Russia. Estimation of the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for age and income segments of the households allows the government to determine a suitable taxation policy. The findings provide new insights on cost allocation in relation to remediating environmental damages in transition economies that have suffered from these serious environmental legacies.
Phylogenetic Relationships and a Revised Taxonomy for North American Cyprinids Currently Assigned to Phoxinus (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae)

Abstract With more than 200 cyprinid genera, Phoxinus is the only genus of minnows with a Holarctic distribution. With ten described species, the genus has received only minimal attention with respect to their phylogenetic relationships, despite the broad distribution of the genus, the brilliant coloration of most species, and the frequency of species in cold-water stream ecosystems. Once recognized in three genera (Phoxinus, Chrosomus, Pfrille), monophyly of the genus has been questioned through previous morphological and molecular investigations. Analyses of all North American species and the Eurasian species Phoxinus phoxinus from across its range using variation in complete sequences of cytochrome b, corroborate previous, less taxon-rich molecular studies using either nuclear or mitochondrial genes, that the genus is an unnatural assemblage. The revised taxonomy for the genus recognizes the North American genus Chrosomus inclusive of the monotypic subgenus Pfrille as the sister group to the remaining species of the subgenus Chrosomus and the whole clade as part of a lineage inclusive of the previously identified North American shiner and western clades. Given the limitations to the taxon sampling of this analysis, the Eurasian Phoxinus is a basal clade of leuciscine cyprinids. With the exception of C. neogaeus, the six North American species form three clades of paired sister species (C. erythrogaster + C. eos; C. cumberlandensis + C. saylori; C. oreas + C. tennesseensis). The phylogenetic relationships provided herein offer opportunities for detailed evolutionary studies of their ecologies, distributions, and behaviors.