Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fluorophotometric Analysis of the Ocular Surface Glycocalyx in Soft Contact Lens Wearers

Abstract Purpose: Unstable tear film characterized by shorting of tear break-up time (BUT) is associated with discomfort and dryness in contact lens wearers. The glycocalyx is thought to be crucial in maintaining the wettability and lubrication of the ocular surface. We evaluated the ocular surface glycocalyx in soft contact lens (SCL) wearers using a fluorescein-labeled wheat germ agglutinin (F-WGA) as a marker to demonstrate the ocular surface glycoconjugates in vivo. Methods: Twenty experienced SCL wearers and 20 healthy volunteers with no history of CL wearing (controls) were enrolled in the study. After applying a 5% F-WGA solution to the eyes of study individuals, fluorescent intensities in their respective central corneas were measured by fluorophotometry. The relationship between F-WGA intensity in the corneal surface and clinical parameters associated with contact lens wear were analyzed. Results: F-WGA fluorescence intensity in the SCL group was 418.5 ± 103.3, which was significantly lower than that of the controls (825.0 ± 179.8; p < 0.0001, Mann–Whitney test). F-WGA fluorescence intensity was not correlated with Schirmer’s test values or age, whereas a statistically significant correlation between F-WGA fluorescence intensity and tear film BUT was observed (r = 0.77, p < 0.0001). The decrease in F-WGA fluorescence intensity could be reversed by discontinuation of SCL use. Conclusion: Reduction and/or compositional alteration of ocular surface glycocalyx may be one of the causative factors of SCL-induced eye dryness.
The immunopathogenesis of the HIV tuberculosis immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome

HIV‐1 patients co‐infected with some pathogens are at risk of developing the immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) when initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART). IRIS is characterized by inflammation leading to the clinical worsening of a treated infection or the unmasking of a previously undiagnosed condition or infection. It is commonly associated with tuberculosis (TB), 8–43% of the HIV‐TB co‐infected patients prescribed with antitubercular treatment and ART develop TB‐IRIS. Although IRIS has been recognized for over 20 years, relatively little was known until recently about its pathogenesis. Despite these advances in understanding IRIS, there remains no immune biomarker for diagnostic or prognostic purposes. Here, we review the risk factors associated with TB‐IRIS, the challenges in studying this syndrome, and how T lymphocytes, dysregulated cytokine responses, and innate immunity may contribute to the development of TB‐IRIS.
Editorial—Special Issue Positivity Impairments: Pervasive and Impairing (Yet Nonprominent?) Features of Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD; i.e. social phobia) is characterized by excessive fear of social or performance situations, and is the fourth most common mental disorder (Kessler et al., 2005). The key diagnostic features of SAD include fear of acting in ways that will be humiliating or embarassing (American Psychiatric Association 1994). Consistent with initial overarching theoretical models which suggested that anxiety disorders are characterized by high levels of negative affect (and autonomic arousal; e.g. Clark&Watson 1991), the vast majority of research on SAD to date has focused on excessive negativity-oriented experiences and symptoms: negative affect and automatic thoughts; behavioral skills deficits; fear of negative evaluation (FNE); and avoidance of making negative impressions on others. Nonetheless, subsequent revisions to these theoretical models and more recent data highlight that SAD is unique among the anxiety disorders in that, in addition to being characterized by high negative affect, it is also characterized by low positive affect (e.g. see Brown, Chorpita, & Barlow, 1998; Kashdan 2007). Moreover, steadily accumulating findings underscore a pervasive relationship between social anxiety and diminished/ impaired positive psychological experiences overall. These include, but are not limited to impaired positive inferential bias (Hirsch & Mathews, 2000; Huppert, Foa, Furr, Filip, & Mathews, 2003), anticipation of more frequent and intense negative emotional reactions to positive social events (Gilboa-Schechtman, Franklin, & Foa, 2000), and increased anxiety in response to overtly positive social interactions (Wallace & Alden, 1997). Importantly, although new findings and updated theoretical models highlighting positivity impairment as a pervasive feature of SAD are not inconsistent with the current diagnostic criteria for the disorder, these features are nevertheless conspicuously absent from the DSM-IV criteria for SAD. The goal of this special issue is to spur greater integration of future research efforts to examine these variegated (albeit potentially inter-related) positivity impairment features, their relationship to social anxiety, and their associated implications for the treatment of SAD.
Value problems of Welfare-Capitalism

I have borrowed this term from Richard Crossman. When he wrote his contribution to the New Fabian Essays in 1952 he took stock of the present state of socialism, as the original Fabians had done in 1889. He hoped to discover ‘a philosophy of Socialism’ with life in it. But he failed. An obvious place to look for it was in the Welfare State, as it had emerged from the hands of the post-war Labour government. But the Welfare State, he decided, was not socialist; it was ‘the climax of a long process, in the course of which capitalism had been civilised and to a large extent reconciled with democracy’. Later on he referred to the product of this process as ‘welfare capitalism’. He ought to have called it ‘democratic-welfare-capitalism’ because, as I shall argue, democracy deserves to have a position as a third party of independent status, not just to be taken for granted.
Thinking Disorder in Depression: Logic and Strategy in an Abstract Reasoning Task

• This experiment demonstrated abstract reasoning deficits in depressed patients and detailed some of the components of cognition that may determine such deficits. Subjects were given a discrimination learning problem in which possible solutions had to be formulated and tested against new information. Depressed subjects performed more poorly on the task than controls. Two types of errors—inability to narrow down the set of possible solutions (poor "focusing") and perseveration on disconfirmed hypotheses—hampered the performance of depressed but not control subjects. While logic, memory, and attention were intact at an elementary level, the inability to coordinate these functions in a complex task appeared to be an important feature of the depressive impairment.
Six X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia-Causing Missense Mutations in the Src Homology 2 Domain of Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase: Phosphotyrosine-Binding and Circular Dichroism Analysis1

Src homology 2 (SH2) domains recognize phosphotyrosine (pY)-containing sequences and thereby mediate their association to ligands. Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (Btk) is a cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase, in which mutations cause a hereditary immunodeficiency disease, X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA). Mutations have been found in all Btk domains, including SH2. We have analyzed the structural and functional effects of six disease-related amino acid substitutions in the SH2 domain: G302E, R307G, Y334S, L358F, Y361C, and H362Q. Also, we present a novel Btk SH2 missense mutation, H362R, leading to classical XLA. Based on circular dichroism analysis, the conformation of five of the XLA mutants studied differs from the native Btk SH2 domain, while mutant R307G is structurally identical. The binding of XLA mutation-containing SH2 domains to pY-Sepharose was reduced, varying between 1 and 13% of that for the native SH2 domain. The solubility of all the mutated proteins was remarkably reduced. SH2 domain mutations were divided into three categories: 1) Functional mutations, which affect residues presumably participating directly in pY binding (R307G); 2) structural mutations that, via conformational change, not only impair pY binding, but severely derange the structure of the SH2 domain and possibly interfere with the overall conformation of the Btk molecule (G302E, Y334S, L358F, and H362Q); and 3) structural-functional mutations, which contain features from both categories above (Y361C).
Comparative Morphology of the Concave Mirror Eyes of Scallops (Pectinoidea)*

Abstract The unique, double-retina, concave mirror eyes of scallops are abundant along the valve mantle margins. Scallops have the most acute vision among the bivalve molluscs, but little is known about how eyes vary between scallop species. We examined eye morphology by immunofluorescent labeling and confocal microscopy and calculated optical resolution and sensitivity for the swimming scallops Amusium balloti (Bernardi, 1861), Placopecten magellenicus (Gmelin, 1791), Argopecten irradians (Lamarck, 1819), Chlamys hastata (Sowerby, 1842), and Chlamys rubida (Hinds, 1845) and the sessile scallops Crassadoma gigantea (Gray, 1825) and Spondylus americanus (Hermann, 1781). We found that eye morphology varied considerably between scallop species. The eyes of A balloti and P. magellenicus had relatively large lenses and small gaps between the retinas and mirror, making them appear similar to those described previously for Pecten maximus (Linnaeus, 1758). In contrast, the other five species we examined had eyes with relatively small lenses and large gaps between the retinas and mirror. We also found evidence that swimming scallops may have better vision than non-swimmers. Swimming species had proximal retinas with inter-receptor angles between 1.0 ± 0.1 (A. balloti) and 2.7 ± 0.3° (C. rubida), while sessile species had proximal retinas with inter-receptor angles between 3.2 ± 0.2 (C. gigantea) and 4.5 ± 0.3° (S. americanus). Distal retina inter-receptor angles ranged from 1.7 ± 0.1 (A balloti) to 2.8 ± 0.1° (C. rubida) for swimming species and from 3.0 ± 0.1 (C. gigantea) to 3.6 ± 0.2° (S. americanus) for sessile species, but did not appear to correlate as strongly with swimming ability as proximal retina inter-receptor angles did. Finally, we found that optical sensitivity differed between species, measuring from 3 ± 1 (A. balloti) to 21 ± 10 µm2 · sr (C. hastata) for proximal retinas and from 2 ± 1 (C. gigantea) to 8 ± 5 µm2 · sr (C. hastata) for distal retinas. These differences, however, did not appear to correlate with ecological factors such as a scallop species' swimming ability, preferred substrate type, or range of habitat depth. In light of these and previous findings, we hypothesize that scallop distal retinas may perform tasks of similar importance to all species, such as predator detection, and that proximal retinas may perform tasks more important to swimming species, such as those associated with the visual detection of preferred habitats.
Recent advances in fibroblast signaling and biology in scleroderma

Purpose of reviewSystemic sclerosis is a complex disease manifesting itself by fibrosis of skin and other internal organs. Fibroblasts isolated from scleroderma lesions and cultured in vitro are characterized by increased synthesis of collagen and other extracellular matrix proteins, consistent with the disease phenotype. Cultured systemic sclerosis fibroblasts therefore serve as a principal experimental model for studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in collagen overproduction in this disease. This review will discuss recent findings related to intracellular signal transduction pathways implicated in deregulated extracellular matrix deposition by systemic sclerosis fibroblasts. Recent findingsRecent findings suggest that constitutively elevated synthesis of extracellular matrix by cultured systemic sclerosis fibroblasts is, at least in part, due to the aberrant activation of the autocrine transforming growth factor-β signaling. Enhanced constitutive transforming growth factor-β signaling may result from the elevated levels of transforming growth factor-β receptor type I and/or inappropriate activation of Smad3. These alterations of the transforming growth factor-β signaling in systemic sclerosis fibroblasts may facilitate increased collagen production in vivo even under conditions of low ligand availability. However, there exist many inconsistencies among published reports regarding the detailed mechanisms of this pathway in systemic sclerosis fibroblasts, and additional studies in this area are needed. Other signaling molecules implicated in fibrotic phenotype include several members of the protein kinase C family, mammalian target of rapamycin, mitogen-activated protein kinase, necdin, reactive oxygen species, and sphingolipids. These signaling pathways may work in conjunction with transforming growth factor-β signaling to regulate the behavior of systemic sclerosis fibroblasts. SummaryAlterations in multiple signaling pathways contribute to elevated extracellular matrix synthesis by systemic sclerosis fibroblasts. Improved understanding of the key signaling molecules may provide a novel avenue for therapeutic interventions.
Combined PDGFR and HDAC Inhibition Overcomes PTEN Disruption in Chordoma

Background The majority of chordomas show activation of the platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR). Based on in vitro intertumoral variation in response to recombinant PDGF protein and PDGFR inhibition, and variable tumor response to imatinib, we hypothesized that chordomas resistant to PDGFR inhibition may possess downstream activation of the pathway. Methods Molecular profiling was performed on 23 consecutive chordoma primary tissue specimens. Primary cultures established from 20 of the 23 specimens, and chordoma cell lines, UCH-1 and UCH-2, were used for in vitro experiments. Results Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) locus was observed in 6 specimens (26%). PTEN disruption statistically correlated with increased Ki-67 proliferation index, an established marker of poor outcome for chordoma. Compared to wild type, PTEN deficient chordomas displayed increased proliferative rate, and responded less favorably to PDGFR inhibition. PTEN gene restoration abrogated this growth advantage. Chordomas are characterized by intratumoral hypoxia and local invasion, and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are capable of attenuating both hypoxic signaling and cell migration. The combination of PDGFR and HDAC inhibition effectively disrupted growth and invasion of PTEN deficient chordoma cells. Conclusions Loss of heterozygosity of the PTEN gene seen in a subset of chordomas is associated with aggressive in vitro behavior and strongly correlates with increased Ki-67 proliferative index. Combined inhibition of PDGFR and HDAC attenuates proliferation and invasion in chordoma cells deficient for PTEN.
The Relationship between Behaviors Associated with Sensory Processing and Parental Sense of Competence

This study examined the dimensions of parents' sense of competence in relationship to children's behaviors thought to reflect sensory processing disorders (SPD) and sought to determine which behaviors best predicted overall parental sense of competence. A total of 248 parents of children with SPD completed the Sensory Profile and the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC) scale. Parents of children with SPD demonstrated somewhat higher parenting Satisfaction than Efficacy. Overall, the PSOC scale was significantly correlated with children's behaviors, as measured by the Sensory Profile. Cluster analysis indicated that children's lower Sensory Profile scores were associated with lower PSOC scores. Four specific items of the Sensory Profile reflecting socially unacceptable behavior best predicted overall PSOC scale with an adjusted R-Square of . 270. The Occupational Performance Coaching intervention to support both children's social behaviors and parent needs is recommended.
Astaxanthin as a Potential Protector of Liver Function: A Review

Protecting against liver damage, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, is currently considered to be important for the prevention of adverse conditions, such as cardiovascular and cancerous diseases. Liver damage often occurs in relation to oxidative stress with metabolic disorders, including cellular lipid accumulation. Astaxanthin (3,3′-dihydroxy-β,β-carotene-4,4′dione), a xanthophyll carotenoid, is a candidate for liver protection. Here, we briefly review astaxanthin as a potential protector against liver damage. In particular, studies have reported antioxidative effects of astaxanthin in liver tissues. Astaxanthin treatment is also reported to improve hyperlipidemia, which indirectly induces the antioxidative effects of astaxanthin on liver pathologies. Furthermore, astaxanthin may alleviate liver damage independent of its antioxidative effects. Of note, there are still insufficient human data to observe the effect of astaxanthin treatment on liver function in clinical conditions. More studies investigating the relevance of astaxanthin on liver protection are necessary.
Combination of feature engineering and ranking models for paper-author identification in KDD Cup 2013

The track 1 problem in KDD Cup 2013 is to discriminate between papers confirmed by the given authors from the other deleted papers. This paper describes the winning solution of team National Taiwan University for track 1 of KDD Cup 2013. First, we conduct the feature engineering to transform the various provided text information into 97 features. Second, we train classification and ranking models using these features. Last, we combine our individual models to boost the performance by using results on the internal validation set and the official Valid set. Some effective post-processing techniques have also been proposed. Our solution achieves 0.98259 MAP score and ranks the first place on the private leaderboard of Test set.
Team Leadership: Leadership Role Achievement in Supervision Teams in Turkey

The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of team leaders and team members of supervision teams about the extent that team leaders achieve their team leadership roles in Turkey. This research was conducted as a survey. The population of the study consisted of approximately 2650 supervisors (inspectors) working in 81 provinces distributed to seven geographical regions in Turkey. The sample consisted of 563 supervisors which were selected out by random sampling. The data were gathered by a questionnaire developed by the researchers and it was designed in two forms: one for team leaders and one for team members. In the analysis SPSS package programme was used. The study provides several noteworthy findings. Team leaders in general noted that they achieved their leadership roles affectively. The findings show that team members agreed with the views of their leaders. Team leaders and team members’ views were both consistent in their views regardless of their gender, education, seniority and the time spent working in the same province were the same in regard to total statistical calculation and analysis. In order to have more effective teams there is a need to give place to team leadership in legal arrangements more, the one who is selected by the team members as team leader should be appointed regardless of any approval of upper managers. It can be asserted that the more democracy in the process of leadership positions the more voluntary participation among members of a team directed to effectiveness can be expected.
Germline Variation Controls the Architecture of Somatic Alterations in Tumors

Studies have suggested that somatic events in tumors can depend on an individual's constitutional genotype. We used squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) of the skin, which arise in high multiplicity in organ transplant recipients, as a model to compare the pattern of somatic alterations within and across individuals. Specifically, we performed array comparative genomic hybridization on 104 tumors from 25 unrelated individuals who each had three or more independently arisen SCCs and compared the profiles occurring within patients to profiles of tumors across a larger set of 135 patients. In general, chromosomal aberrations in SCCs were more similar within than across individuals (two-sided exact-test p-value ), consistent with the notion that the genetic background was affecting the pattern of somatic changes. To further test this possibility, we performed allele-specific imbalance studies using microsatellite markers mapping to 14 frequently aberrant regions of multiple independent tumors from 65 patients. We identified nine loci which show evidence of preferential allelic imbalance. One of these loci, 8q24, corresponded to a region in which multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms have been associated with increased cancer risk in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We tested three implicated variants and identified one, rs13281615, with evidence of allele-specific imbalance (p-value = 0.012). The finding of an independently identified cancer susceptibility allele with allele-specific imbalance in a genomic region affected by recurrent DNA copy number changes suggest that it may also harbor risk alleles for SCC. Together these data provide strong evidence that the genetic background is a key driver of somatic events in cancer, opening an opportunity to expand this approach to identify cancer risk alleles.
Developmental changes in electroencephalographic frontal asymmetry in young children at risk for depression.

BACKGROUND A number of studies have reported that depression is associated with lower relative left frontal activity in the alpha band (i.e. frontal asymmetry, or FA), as measured by electroencephalogram. FA has also been hypothesized to be a vulnerability marker for depression. If this is the case, FA should be evident in offspring of depressed mothers, a group at elevated risk for depression. However, the results of previous offspring studies have been inconsistent and none of these studies has considered whether the relationship between FA and risk changes over development in children. METHOD We assessed FA twice, at ages 3 and 6, in 253 never depressed children from a community sample. Maternal history of depressive disorders was determined by a diagnostic interview completed by the mothers at the first assessment. RESULTS There was a significant interaction between maternal depression and offspring age at assessment, indicating that FA exhibits different developmental trajectories depending on level of familial risk for depression. Offspring of depressed mothers exhibited a decreasing relative left FA over the course of early childhood, while offspring of nondepressed mothers exhibited relatively similar, symmetrical, levels of frontal alpha activity at both assessment points. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that changes in FA from early to middle childhood distinguish those at risk for depression and that cross-sectional assessment of FA may have limited value in understanding risk. These results highlight the importance of considering development in understanding the role of FA in depression.
REASONING WITH NEGATIVES

Two experiments are reported on the effect of negation on reasoning with conditional rules. In Expt. I significantly more affirmative than negative statements were denied by a valid inference (modus tollens), and significantly more negative than affirmative statements were affirmed by a fallacious inference (affirmation of the consequent). Subjects made their inferences by choosing from a list of possible conclusions, so that, for example, an affirmative statement, p, could be denied by selecting the negative conclusion, not p. It was hypothesized that the greater difficulty experienced by subjects in the denial of not p by a choice of p might be due to the additional intermediate step of double negation. i.e. not not p, which is involved. The results of Expt. II suggested, however, that the difficulty lies in subjects' inability to infer that a negative statement is false, rather than in the process of transforming a double negative into an affirmative.