Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Hindi to Punjabi Machine Translation System

Machine Translation in India is relatively young. The earliest efforts date from the late 80s and early 90s. The success of every system is judged from its evaluation experimental results. Number of machine translation systems has been started for development but to the best of author knowledge, no high quality system has been completed which can be used in real applications. Recently, Punjabi University, Patiala, India has developed Punjabi to Hindi Machine translation system with high accuracy of about 92%. Both the systems i.e. system under question and developed system are between same closely related languages. Thus, this paper presents the evaluation results of Hindi to Punjabi machine translation system. It makes sense to use same evaluation criteria as that of Punjabi to Hindi Punjabi Machine Translation System. After evaluation, the accuracy of the system is found to be about 95%.
Stabilization of morphine tolerance with long-term dosing: Association with selective upregulation of mu-opioid receptor splice variant mRNAs

Significance Many assume that morphine tolerance is a continually progressive response, based mainly upon preclinical studies typically lasting a week or less. Yet, clinicians have long appreciated the ability to manage cancer pain in patients with stable opioid doses for months, implying that extended dosing may eventually stabilize the level of tolerance. To reconcile these differences, we examined tolerance over 6 wk and show that extended morphine dosing leads to progressive tolerance for 3 wk that then stabilizes for up to 6 wk and is associated with increases in the abundance of mu opioid receptor splice variant mRNA levels of as much as 300-fold. Chronic morphine administration is associated with the development of tolerance, both clinically and in animal models. Many assume that tolerance is a continually progressive response to chronic opioid dosing. However, clinicians have long appreciated the ability to manage cancer pain in patients for months on stable opioid doses, implying that extended dosing may eventually result in a steady state in which the degree of tolerance remains constant despite the continued administration of a fixed morphine dose. Preclinical animal studies have used short-term paradigms, typically a week or less, whereas the clinical experience is based upon months of treatment. Chronic administration of different fixed morphine doses produced a progressive increase in the ED50 that peaked at 3 wk in mice, consistent with prior results at shorter times. Continued morphine dosing beyond 3 wk revealed stabilization of the level of tolerance for up to 6 wk with no further increase in the ED50. The degree of tolerance at all time points was dependent upon the dose of morphine. The mRNA levels for the various mu opioid receptor splice variants were assessed to determine whether stabilization of morphine tolerance was associated with changes in their levels. After 6 wk of treatment, mRNA levels of the variants increased as much as 300-fold for selected variants in specific brain regions. These findings reconcile preclinical and clinical observations regarding the development of morphine tolerance.
Spectral sensitivity of the ctenid spider Cupiennius salei

SUMMARY The spectral sensitivity of adult male Cupiennius salei Keys, a nocturnal hunting spider, was studied in a behavioural test. As known from earlier behavioural tests, C. salei will walk towards a black target presented in front of a white background. In this study, a black target (size 42×70 cm) was presented in a white arena illuminated by monochromatic light in the range 365–695 nm using 19 monochromatic filters (half-width in the range 6–10 nm). In the first trial, the transmission of the optical filters was between 40% and 80%. In the second trial, the transmission was reduced to 5% using a neutral density filter. At the high intensity, the spiders showed a spectral sensitivity in the range 380–670 nm. In the second trial, the animals only showed directed walks if the illumination was in the range 449–599 nm, indicating a lower sensitivity at the margins of the spectral sensitivity. In previous intracellular recordings, the measured spectral sensitivity was between 320 and 620 nm. Interestingly, these results do not completely match the behaviourally tested spectral sensitivity of the photoreceptors, where the sensitivity range is shifted to longer wavelengths. In order to investigate the molecular background of spectral sensitivity, we searched for opsin genes in C. salei. We found three visual opsins that correspond to UV and middle to long wavelength sensitive opsins as described for jumping spiders.
Platelet cytochrome c oxidase activity and quantity in septic patients*

Objective: The cytopathic hypoxia theory proposes that there is an impaired cellular oxygen utilization during sepsis. Respiratory complex IV, or cytochrome c oxidase, was only previously studied in muscle biopsies of 16 surviving and 12 nonsurviving septic patients. We hypothesized that higher activities and quantities of this enzyme complex could be associated with septic patient survival. The objective was to evaluate the relationship between cytochrome c oxidase activities and quantities and 6-month survival in a larger series of septic patients using a less invasive method (circulating platelets). Design: Prospective, multicenter, observational study. Setting: The study was carried out in six Spanish intensive care units. Patients: We included 96 septic patients. Interventions: We determined the cytochrome c oxidase activity per citrate synthase activity ratio and cytochrome c oxidase quantity per citrate synthase activity ratio in circulating platelets at the time of diagnosis and related them to 6-month survival. The written informed consent from the family members was obtained. Measurements and Main Results: Survivor patients (n = 54) showed higher cytochrome c oxidase activity per citrate synthase activity ratio (p = .04) and cytochrome c oxidase quantity per citrate synthase activity ratio (p = .006) than nonsurvivors (n = 42). Logistic regression analyses confirmed that the cytochrome c oxidase activity per citrate synthase activity ratio (p = .04) and cytochrome c oxidase quantity per citrate synthase activity ratio (p = .02) were independent predictors of 6-month survival. The area under the curve to predict 6-month survival was 0.62 (95% confidence interval 0.51–0.74; p = .04) for the cytochrome c oxidase activity per citrate synthase activity ratio and 0.67 (95% confidence interval 0.56–0.76; p = .003) for the cytochrome c oxidase quantity per citrate synthase activity ratio. A negative correlation was found between the cytochrome c oxidase quantity per citrate synthase activity ratio and Sepsis-Related Organ Failure Assessment score (p = .04). Conclusions: Platelet cytochrome c oxidase activity and quantity were independent predictors of 6-month survival and could be used as biomarkers of sepsis mortality. This is a rapid, easy, and less invasive protocol to assess mitochondrial function. Patients with lower cytochrome c oxidase activity and quantity could benefit from drugs that improve mitochondrial function.
A Text Processing System for Mining Association Rules

Text mining is a much researched area of the general data mining field. It deals with data mining tasks on text data. A lot of research has been done in this area, but few easy-to-use open-source systems exist that provide the users with tools and interfaces to facilitate such text mining tasks, except some expensive commercial products. In this paper, we present a text processing system that incorporates mining association rules from text. Although this paper doe not present new and innovative research ideas, the text processing system we describe here can be considered a simple working application of an important computing task.
An overview of investigational toxin-directed therapies for the adjunctive management of Bacillus anthracis infection and sepsis

Introduction: Sepsis with Bacillus anthracis infection has a very high mortality rate despite appropriate antibiotic and supportive therapies. Over the past 15 years, recent outbreaks in the US and in Europe, coupled with anthrax’s bioterrorism weapon potential, have stimulated efforts to develop adjunctive therapies to improve clinical outcomes. Since lethal toxin and edema toxin (LT and ET) make central contributions to the pathogenesis of B. anthracis, these have been major targets in this effort. Areas covered: Here, the authors review different investigative biopharmaceuticals that have been recently identified for their therapeutic potential as inhibitors of LT or ET. Among these inhibitors are two antibody preparations that have been included in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and several more that have reached Phase I testing. Presently, however, many of these candidate agents have only been studied in vitro and very few tested in bacteria-challenged models. Expert opinion: Although a large number of drugs have been identified as potential therapeutic inhibitors of LT and ET, in most cases their testing has been limited. The use of the two SNS antibody therapies during a large-scale exposure to B. anthracis will be difficult. Further testing and development of agents with oral bioavailability and relatively long shelf lives should be a focus for future research.
Tissue storage and primer selection influence pyrosequencing‐based inferences of diversity and community composition of endolichenic and endophytic fungi

Next‐generation sequencing technologies have provided unprecedented insights into fungal diversity and ecology. However, intrinsic biases and insufficient quality control in next‐generation methods can lead to difficult‐to‐detect errors in estimating fungal community richness, distributions and composition. The aim of this study was to examine how tissue storage prior to DNA extraction, primer design and various quality‐control approaches commonly used in 454 amplicon pyrosequencing might influence ecological inferences in studies of endophytic and endolichenic fungi. We first contrast 454 data sets generated contemporaneously from subsets of the same plant and lichen tissues that were stored in CTAB buffer, dried in silica gel or freshly frozen prior to DNA extraction. We show that storage in silica gel markedly limits the recovery of sequence data and yields a small fraction of the diversity observed by the other two methods. Using lichen mycobiont sequences as internal positive controls, we next show that despite careful filtering of raw reads and utilization of current best‐practice OTU clustering methods, homopolymer errors in sequences representing rare taxa artificially increased estimates of richness c. 15‐fold in a model data set. Third, we show that inferences regarding endolichenic diversity can be improved using a novel primer that reduces amplification of the mycobiont. Together, our results provide a rationale for selecting tissue treatment regimes prior to DNA extraction, demonstrate the efficacy of reducing mycobiont amplification in studies of the fungal microbiomes of lichen thalli and highlight the difficulties in differentiating true information about fungal biodiversity from methodological artefacts.
Next-generation distillers dried grain as a potential dietary ingredient in dog and cat diets

Novel ingredients have been a source of innovation and growth in the pet food market. Further, with rising trends in the humanization of pet food, there has been increased competition between the human food systems and pet food industry for high quality ingredients. Nextgeneration distillers dried grains (NG-DDG) are a sustainable alternative protein source that show a strong potential for use in companion animal diets. The objectives of this work were to determine the effect of NG-DDG on the extrusion of dry kibbles, the utilization of diets by dogs, the palatability of diets by dogs and cats, and to evaluate the amino acid profile and protein quality through a chick growth assay. Corn gluten meal (CGM) and soybean meal (SBM) were used as standards for comparison. Diets were extruded over 3 days in a complete block design. During extrusion, the NG-DDG kibbles had less radial expansion (P<0.05) compared to the CGM and SBM kibbles (2.62 vs. average 3.10 mm/mm, respectively). The NG-DDG kibble also required a smaller (P<0.05) mass restriction-valve opening to increase die back-pressure. No other differences in extrusion parameters or kibble texture were observed. Twelve beagle dogs were arranged in a 3x3 replicated Latin Square and were each fed the 3 experimental diets to evaluate digestibility by use of titanium dioxide. Diet produced with CGM was more digestible (P<0.05) in terms of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, crude fat, and gross energy. Additionally, dogs fed NG-DDG diets had larger (P<0.05) fecal mass than both CGM and SBM (55.65 vs 35.91 and 43.25 g/d, respectively), and a higher (P<0.05) fecal score than dogs fed the CGM diet (3.63 vs. 3.27). Diets were fed to both dogs and cats to assess palatability via a twobowl test. Dogs had a preference (P<0.05) for CGM over SBM and NG-DDG, but cats showed a preference (P<0.05) for SBM and NG-DDG over CGM. To assess protein quality, one-day old chicks (CobbxCobb; n=120) were fed semi-purified diets containing test ingredients at a 10% crude protein inclusion level, as well as spray dried granulated egg (SDG) and a nitrogen-free basal diet (NEG) to serve as positive and negative controls, respectively. Chicks were arranged in a randomized block design with 6 chicks per pen, 1 pen per battery, and 4 pens per treatment. The protein efficiency ratio (PER) of each treatment was calculated as weight gain (g) per protein intake (g). All experimental treatments had a lower (P<0.05) PER value than the positive control. The PER for NG-DDG and CGM did not differ from each other and had the lowest value of all treatments (P<0.05; average 1.17). In summary, next-generation distillers dried grains can be used to make a similar kibble to CGM and SBM, are similar to SBM in terms of digestibility, and would be an acceptable source of protein in companion animal diets when paired with a supplemental protein source.
Partial laryngopharyngectomy in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of hypopharynx: Analysis of the oncologic results and laryngeal preservation rate

Abstract Conclusion: Partial laryngopharyngectomy (PLP) provides acceptable oncologic results and laryngeal preservation rate in selected patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx. Even when local recurrence develops, the chance of successful salvage is still high. Objectives: To evaluate the oncologic results and laryngeal preservation rate in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx who underwent PLP. Methods: The results of 39 patients who underwent PLP were compared with those of 91 patients who underwent total laryngectomy (TL). Results: The distribution of the primary T stages were 23 (59%) pT2, 9 (23%) pT3, and 7 (18%) pT4; the pathologic stages were 8 patients (21%) stage II, 9 (23%) stage III, and 22 (56%) stage IV. All of the patients also had ipsilateral or bilateral neck dissections. Eighteen patients (46%) received postoperative adjuvant therapy. After a median follow-up of 39 months, 17 patients (44%) had recurrence, including 12 local, 2 regional, and 3 distant lesions. The 5-year overall and disease-specific survival were 44% and 56%, respectively; functional preservation was 62%. The recurrence rate was similar in patients treated with PLP and TL (44% vs 36%, p = 0.431); the local recurrence rate was higher after PLP than after TL (31% vs 8%, p = 0.001). The salvage surgery was successful in four of the six patients (67%). After salvage treatment, the 5-year overall survival (44% vs 47%) and disease-specific survival (56% vs 62%) were similar in the two groups.
Mepolizumab for prednisone-dependent asthma with sputum eosinophilia.

BACKGROUND Eosinophilic inflammation, which may be a consequence of interleukin-5 action, is a characteristic feature of some forms of asthma. However, in three previous clinical trials involving patients with asthma, blockade of this cytokine did not result in a significant improvement in outcomes. We studied the prednisone-sparing effect of mepolizumab, a monoclonal antibody against interleukin-5, in a rare subgroup of patients who have sputum eosinophilia and airway symptoms despite continued treatment with prednisone. Secondary objectives were to examine its effect on the number of eosinophils in sputum and blood, symptoms, and airflow limitation. METHODS In this randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial involving patients with persistent sputum eosinophilia and symptoms despite prednisone treatment, we assigned 9 patients to receive mepolizumab (administered in five monthly infusions of 750 mg each) and 11 patients to receive placebo. RESULTS There were 12 asthma exacerbations in 10 patients who received placebo, 9 of whom had sputum eosinophilia at the time of exacerbation. In comparison, only one patient who received mepolizumab had an asthma exacerbation, and this episode was not associated with sputum eosinophilia (P=0.002). Patients who received mepolizumab were able to reduce their prednisone dose by a mean (+/-SD) of 83.8+/-33.4% of their maximum possible dose, as compared with 47.7+/-40.5% in the placebo group (P=0.04). The use of mepolizumab was associated with a significant decrease in the number of sputum and blood eosinophils. Improvements in eosinophil numbers, asthma control, and forced expiratory volume in 1 second were maintained for 8 weeks after the last infusion. There were no serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS Mepolizumab reduced the number of blood and sputum eosinophils and allowed prednisone sparing in patients who had asthma with sputum eosinophilia despite prednisone treatment. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00292877.)
Effects of Shade on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Acquisition in Cereal-Legume Intercropping Systems

With increasing economic and environmental costs associated with fertilizer use, the need for low-input agroecological systems is on the rise. It is well documented that intercropping legumes can increase the supply of nutrients, through N 2 -fixation and P mobilization. Concurrently, the integration of trees in the agricultural landscape shows increasing evidence of nutrient inputs through efficient biogeochemical cycles. However, little is known about the effects shade has on legume-crop performance. This research aims to determine whether intercropping of the legumes soybean ( Glycine max L . Merr. ) and alfalfa ( Medicago sativa ) with wheat ( Triticum turgidum durum ) is beneficial for performance, particularly under shady conditions associated with tree-based intercropping. Test species were cultivated in hydroponics with a broad nutrient solution and steady state addition of N for 3 weeks. Individual plants were transferred to rhizoboxes with a 2 mm zone of soil for 16 days under (i) full sun or (ii) shade to mimic light levels at the tree-crop interface. Under monocropping, shading was found to significantly decrease wheat biomass. Intercropping wheat with alfalfa under full sun had no negative effect on growth but did increase wheat P uptake as compared to monocropped wheat. In contrast, intercropping wheat with soybean under full sun decreased wheat biomass, suggesting competition. However, under shade, this competitive effect was mitigated, as wheat exhibited similar biomass and higher N and P shoot concentration when associated with soybean as compared to monocropped wheat under lower light levels. This effect may be attributed to reduced biomass of soybean combined with higher soybean N 2 -fixation under shade. Legume-based intercrops may increase nutrient supply and growth but these beneficial effects will be dependent on matching species selection to light levels under tree-based intercropping.
Theta: an object-oriented operating system for intelligent process monitoring

The paper describes an integrated intelligent monitoring system which is used in industries. This system is integrated by a controller, a real-time operating system, and a real-time expert system. The real-time object-oriented operating system Theta is described first. Secondly an integration of Theta on a VMEbus based controller and the real-time expert system ESPARON for dough mixing monitoring is explained. <<ETX>>
Genome Degeneration and Adaptation in a Nascent Stage of Symbiosis

Symbiotic associations between animals and microbes are ubiquitous in nature, with an estimated 15% of all insect species harboring intracellular bacterial symbionts. Most bacterial symbionts share many genomic features including small genomes, nucleotide composition bias, high coding density, and a paucity of mobile DNA, consistent with long-term host association. In this study, we focus on the early stages of genome degeneration in a recently derived insect-bacterial mutualistic intracellular association. We present the complete genome sequence and annotation of Sitophilus oryzae primary endosymbiont (SOPE). We also present the finished genome sequence and annotation of strain HS, a close free-living relative of SOPE and other insect symbionts of the Sodalis-allied clade, whose gene inventory is expected to closely resemble the putative ancestor of this group. Structural, functional, and evolutionary analyses indicate that SOPE has undergone extensive adaptation toward an insect-associated lifestyle in a very short time period. The genome of SOPE is large in size when compared with many ancient bacterial symbionts; however, almost half of the protein-coding genes in SOPE are pseudogenes. There is also evidence for relaxed selection on the remaining intact protein-coding genes. Comparative analyses of the whole-genome sequence of strain HS and SOPE highlight numerous genomic rearrangements, duplications, and deletions facilitated by a recent expansion of insertions sequence elements, some of which appear to have catalyzed adaptive changes. Functional metabolic predictions suggest that SOPE has lost the ability to synthesize several essential amino acids and vitamins. Analyses of the bacterial cell envelope and genes encoding secretion systems suggest that these structures and elements have become simplified in the transition to a mutualistic association.
Index structures and algorithms for querying distributed RDF repositories

A technical infrastructure for storing, querying and managing RDFdata is a key element in the current semantic web development. Systems like Jena, Sesame or the ICS-FORTH RDF Suite are widelyused for building semantic web applications. Currently, none ofthese systems supports the integrated querying of distributed RDF repositories. We consider this a major shortcoming since the semanticweb is distributed by nature. In this paper we present an architecture for querying distributed RDF repositories by extending the existing Sesame system. We discuss the implications of our architectureand propose an index structure as well as algorithms forquery processing and optimization in such a distributed context.
Ultrasound contrast agents

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) plays an important role in imaging of the mediastinum and abdominal organs. Since the introduction of US contrast agents (UCA) for transabdominal US, attempts have been made to apply contrast-enhanced US techniques also to EUS. Since 2003, specific contrast-enhanced imaging was possible using EUS. Important studies have been published regarding contrast-enhanced EUS and the characterization of focal pancreatic lesions, lymph nodes, and subepithelial tumors. In this manuscript, we describe the relevant UCA, their application, and specific image acquisition as well as the principles of image tissue characterization using contrast-enhanced EUS. Safety issues, potential future developments, and EUS-specific issues are reviewed.