Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interleukin-17 in Various Ocular Surface Inflammatory Diseases

Recently, the association of Th-17 cells or IL-17 with ocular inflammatory diseases such as uveitis, scleritis and dry eye syndrome was discovered. We assessed whether interleukin (IL)-17 was present in the tears of various ocular surface inflammatory diseases and the tear IL-17 concentrations were clinically correlated with various ocular surface inflammatory diseases. We measured concentrations of IL-17 in tears of normal subjects (n = 28) and patients (n = 141) with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), dry eye syndrome (DES), Sjögren syndrome (SS), Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), filamentary keratitis, and autoimmune keratitis associated with rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus. Clinical epitheliopathy scores were based on the surface area of corneal and conjunctival fluorescein staining. The mean concentrations of IL-17 in tears of patients with filamentary keratitis, GVHD, autoimmune keratitis, SS, DES, MGD, SJS were significantly higher in order than that in normal subjects. Tear IL-17 concentration was significantly correlated with clinical epitheilopathy scores in the patients with systemic inflammatory disease, while tear IL-17 was not correlated with clinical severity of the cornea and conjunctiva in the dry eye patients without any systemic inflammatory disease. Tear IL-17 is likely to correlate clinically with corneal disease severity only in the patients with systemic inflammatory disease.
Algorithms for Molecular Biology

Background: Protein structure alignments are usually based on very different techniques to sequence alignments. We propose a method which treats sequence, structure and even combined sequence + structure in a single framework. Using a probabilistic approach, we calculate a similarity measure which can be applied to fragments containing only protein sequence, structure or both simultaneously. Results: Proof-of-concept results are given for the different problems. For sequence alignments, the methodology is no better than conventional methods. For structure alignments, the techniques are very fast, reliable and tolerant of a range of alignment parameters. Combined sequence and structure alignments may provide a more reliable alignment for pairs of proteins where pure structural alignments can be misled by repetitive elements or apparent symmetries. Conclusion: The probabilistic framework has an elegance in principle, merging sequence and structure descriptors into a single framework. It has a practical use in fast structural alignments and a potential use in finding those examples where sequence and structural similarities apparently disagree.
Corporate management of visibility and the fantasy of the post-political: Social media and surveillance

This article sheds light on a challenge to the emancipatory potential of social media for social movements that has so far largely been overlooked: corporations’ monitoring of individuals. In this way, it goes beyond the ways in which corporations draw on ‘big data’ from online sources and instead explores how they (1) monitor and (2) discuss strategies for responding to the activities of individual activists, specifically in social media. Theoretically, it draws on Thompson’s concept of mediated visibility, Mouffe’s concept of the (post)political and Carpentier’s notion of the fantasy of the post-political. Empirically, it focuses on the oil industry and the climate justice movement in the United Kingdom. Here, it draws on files from British Petroleum (BP) and Shell on specific individuals obtained through Subject Access Requests under the Data Protection Act as well as press responses from the two oil companies.
Redesigning Terraced Social Housing in the UK for Flexibility Using Building Energy Simulation with Consideration of Passive Design

A chosen case study house forms the basis of this paper, which is a pilot energy-efficient social housing project, completed by one of the largest housing developers in the UK. The main aim of this study is to inform the redesign of flexible energy-efficient housing units. The housing, designed for social tenants, was built by the Accent Group in 2005, using modern construction methods and sustainable materials, based on extensive research from the adaptable and “Grow Home” principles of Avi Friedman as well as open building implementation. The first pilot scheme was designed in collaboration with the Building Energy Analysis Unit at the University of Sheffield, together with the Goddard Wybor Practise, and was a successful housing development with respect to being environmentally friendly and a low-energy design scheme for the UK climate. This paper presents redesigning of flexible terraced housing units, and their performance evaluation, using a building simulation method as well as the passive-house planning package. The aim was to plan a row of terraced houses that can not only utilize a flexible design concept in floor planning layout, but also to reduce energy consumption with a passive design with particular attention paid to material selection. In addition, building simulation work has been carried out with the use of DesignBuilder software for both thermal and energy performance evaluation. The study examines the annual energy performance and comfort conditions in the designed house to be situated in the Northeast of England, UK. A terraced house unit design is considered a flexible home that can adjust to the needs of different tenants for the purpose of achieving a sustainable building under different aspects, such as low energy, low carbon, use of renewables, and low impact materials, with flexibility by design.
The serological markers of hepatitis A and B in healthy population in northern Pakistan.

A total of 630 apparently healthy volunteers were studied for seromarkers of hepatitis A and B by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Radioimmunoassay (RIA) techniques. A carrier rate of 5.3% for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was found in young medical students while 10.7% recruits were positive for HBsAg. The pregnant females had HBsAg carrier rate of 7.8%. About 96.6% of young medical students and 100% of recruits revealed evidence of past exposure to hepatitis A. The serological evidence of past exposure to hepatitis B was found in 12.2% of medical students and 33.2% of recruits and pregnant females. Generally, substandard hygienic conditions and poor sanitation contributed to the transmission of hepatitis A virus (HAV) in young population. The use of unsterilized syringes in mass inoculation and vaccination and lack of HBsAg testing of the donor’s blood in most blood banks were largely responsible for the spread of hepatitis B virus (HBV) (JPMA 38: 69 , 1988 ).
A Reactive Planner for a Model-based Executive

A new generation of reactive, model-based executives are emerging that make extensive use of componentbased declarative models to analyze anomalous situations and generate novel sequences for the internal control of complex autonomous systems. Burton, a generative, model-based planner offers a core element that bridges the gap between current and target states within the reactive loop. Burton is a sound, complete, reactive planner that generates a single control action of a valid plan in average case constant time, and compensates for anomalies at every step. Burton will not generate irreversible, potentially damaging sequences, except to effect repairs. We present model compilation, causal analysis, and online policy construction methods that are key to Burton's performance.
The influence of implant diameter on its survival: a meta-analysis based on prospective clinical trials.

BACKGROUND The use of narrow-diameter implants has been proposed to restore small edentulous spans, thus avoiding extensive bone augmentation procedures and reducing the surgical complexity of implant rehabilitations. Although success rates of narrow-diameter implants have already been analyzed in the literature, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no meta-analysis based on prospective and randomized controlled trials has been performed. The aim of this study is to analyze the survival rates of narrow-diameter implants compared with standard or wide-diameter implants. METHODS An electronic search from three databases and a hand search in implant-related journals of studies published in English before September 1, 2012 were performed. Prospective human clinical studies with at least 10 implants and a follow-up period of 1 year were included in the meta-analysis. Implants were divided into two groups based on their diameters. RESULTS The initial search yielded 484 articles, of which 49 were evaluated in full text for eligibility. Finally, 16 studies were chosen and separated into two groups: 1) implants of diameter <3.3 mm (group 1) and 2) implants of diameter ≥3.3 mm (group 2). A meta-analysis performed for groups 1 and 2 showed survival rates of 75% and 87%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS This meta-analysis showed that narrower implants (<3.3 mm) had significantly lower survival rates compared with wider implants (≥3.3 mm). Other variables, such as type of prosthesis, implant surface, and timing of prosthetic loading, were found to have influenced the implant survival rates.
Scheduling and mapping of conditional task graphs for the synthesis of low power embedded systems

This paper describes a new dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) technique for embedded systems expressed as conditional task graphs (CTGs). The idea is to identify and exploit the available worst case slack time, taking into account the conditional behaviour of CTGs. Also we examine the effect of combining a genetic algorithm based mapping with the DVS technique for CTGs and show that further energy reduction can be obtained. The techniques have been tested on a number of CTGs including a real-life example. The results show that the DVS technique can be applied to CTGs with energy saving up to 24%. Furthermore it is shown that savings of up to 51% are achieved by considering DVS during the mapping.
Short- and long-term experience in pulmonary vein segmental ostial ablation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

Introduction Segmental ostial pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is considered a potentially curative therapeutic approach in the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). There is only limited data available on the long-term effect of this procedure. Methods Patients (Pts) underwent a regular clinical follow up visit at 3, 6 and 24 months after PVI. Clinical success was classified as complete (i.e. no arrhythmia recurrences, no antiarrhythmic drug), partial (i.e. no/only few recurrences, on drug) or as a failure (no benefit). The clinical responder rate (CRR) was determined by combining complete and partial success. Results 117 patients (96 male, 21 female), aged 51±11 years (range 25 to 73) underwent a total of 166 procedures (1.4/patient) in 2-4 pulmonary veins (PV). 115 patients (98%) had AF, 2 patients presented with regular PV atrial tachycardia. ,109/115 patients. exhibited PAF as the primary arrhythmia (versus persistent AF). A total of 113 patients with PVI in the years 2001 to 2003 were evaluated for their CRR after 6 (3) months. A single intervention was carried out in 63 patients (55.8%), two interventions were performed in 45 patients (39.8%) and three interventions in 5 patients (4.4%). The clinical response demonstrated a complete success of 52% (59 patients), a partial success of 26% (29 patients) and a failure rate of 22% (25 patients), leading to a CRR of 78% (88 patients). Ostial PVI in all 4 PVs exhibited a tendency towards higher curative success rates (54% versus 44% in patients with 3 PVs ablated for the 6 month follow up). Long-term clinical outcome was evaluated in 39 patients with an ablation attempt at 3 PVs only (excluding the right inferior PV in our early experience) and a mean clinical follow up of 21±6 months. At this point in time the success rate was 41% (complete, 16 patients) and 21% (partial, 8 patients), respectively, adding up to a CRR of 62% (24 patients). In total, 20 patients (17.1%) had either a single or 2 (3 patients, 2.6%) complications independent of the number of procedures performed with PV stenosis as the leading cause (7.7%). Conclusion The CRR of patients with medical refractory PAF in our patient cohort is 78% at the 6 month follow up. PV stenosis is the main cause for procedure-related complications. Ablation of all 4 PV exhibits a tendency towards higher complete success rates despite equal CRR. Calculation of the clinical response after a mid- to long-term follow of 21±6 months in those patients with an ostial PVI in only 3 pulmonary veins (sparing the right inferior PV) shows a further reduction to 62%, exclusively caused by a drop in patients with a former partial success. To evaluate the long-term clinical benefit of segmental ostial PVI in comparison with other ablation techniques, more extended follow up periods are mandatory, including a larger study cohort and a detailed description of procedural parameters.
Purification to Homogeneity and Characterization of a Novel Pseudomonas putida Chromate Reductase

ABSTRACT Cr(VI) (chromate) is a widespread environmental contaminant. Bacterial chromate reductases can convert soluble and toxic chromate to the insoluble and less toxic Cr(III). Bioremediation can therefore be effective in removing chromate from the environment, especially if the bacterial propensity for such removal is enhanced by genetic and biochemical engineering. To clone the chromate reductase-encoding gene, we purified to homogeneity (>600-fold purification) and characterized a novel soluble chromate reductase from Pseudomonas putida, using ammonium sulfate precipitation (55 to 70%), anion-exchange chromatography (DEAE Sepharose CL-6B), chromatofocusing (Polybuffer exchanger 94), and gel filtration (Superose 12 HR 10/30). The enzyme activity was dependent on NADH or NADPH; the temperature and pH optima for chromate reduction were 80°C and 5, respectively; and theKm was 374 μM, with aVmax of 1.72 μmol/min/mg of protein. Sulfate inhibited the enzyme activity noncompetitively. The reductase activity remained virtually unaltered after 30 min of exposure to 50°C; even exposure to higher temperatures did not immediately inactivate the enzyme. X-ray absorption near-edge-structure spectra showed quantitative conversion of chromate to Cr(III) during the enzyme reaction.
Impact of comorbid anxiety in an effectiveness study of interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed adolescents.

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of comorbid anxiety on treatment for adolescent depression in an effectiveness study of interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed adolescents (IPT-A). METHOD A randomized clinical trial was conducted from April 1, 1999, through July 31, 2002. Sixty-three depressed adolescents, ages 12 to 18, received either IPT-A or treatment as usual delivered by school-based mental health clinicians. Adolescents with and without probable comorbid anxiety disorders were compared on depression and overall functioning. All analyses used an intent-to-treat design. RESULTS Comorbid anxiety was associated with higher depression scores at baseline (p <.01) and poorer depression outcome posttreatment (p <.05). IPT-A was nonsignificantly more effective in treating the depression of adolescents with comorbid anxiety (p =.07). Adolescents whose depression and functioning improved during the course of treatment also showed an improvement in anxiety (p <.01), largely irrespective of treatment condition. CONCLUSIONS Adolescents with comorbid depression and anxiety present with more severe depression and may be more difficult to treat. Structured treatments like IPT-A may be particularly helpful for comorbidly depressed adolescents as compared to supportive therapy.
Implementing and evaluating an integrated approach to modeling German prosody

The perceived quality of synthetic speech strongly depends on its prosodic naturalness. Departing from works by Mixdorff on a linguistically motivated model of German intonation based on the Fujisaki model, the current paper presents statistical results concerning the relationship between linguistic and phonetic information underlying an utterance and its prosodic features. These results were employed for training an FFNN-based integrated prosodic model predicting syllable duration and energy along with syllable-aligned Fujisaki control parameters. A novel method of perceptual evaluation was applied, comparing resynthesis stimuli created by controlled prosodic degrading of natural speech with stimuli created using the integrated model. The results indicate that the integrated model generally receives better ratings than degraded stimuli with comparable durational and F0 deviations from the original. An important outcome is the observation that the accuracy of the predicted syllable durations is a by far stronger factor with respect to the perceived quality than the accuracy of the predicted F0 contour.
Redes interinstitucionales y estrategias de desarrollo local. El caso del sistema productivo local de Crespo, Entre Ríos

The purpose of this work is to study current inter-institutional relations in Local Productive Systems (SPL by its acronym in Spanish), paying special attention to the way that they are set up, their degree of internal consolidation, the local development dynamizing effects caused by them and they way in which they are influenced or not by global chains. In order to accomplish this, we use the productive system of Crespo and surrounding villages, located in the province of Entre Rios, Argentina. The methodology focuses on the quali-quantitative analysis of secondary information (statistics, census, surveys, among others) and qualitative analysis of primary information collected through in-depth interviews of qualified informants. The results stress the existence of an inter-institutional articulation experience grouping various public and private institutions located inside the territory, oriented towards the creation of short, medium and long-term management strategies to improve the city’s competitive level within a productive system network aiming at sustainable development
Controlled Language for Knowledge Representation

Current expert systems represent knowledge in several different forms. In most cases, there is an object or inheritance hierarchy representing static facts about the objects, actions, or events in the domain of application, and the important relationships between them. Other types of knowledge are represented in the form of rules, usually conditionals saying what action should be performed if such and such a condition is encountered, or what conclusion can be drawn if such and such other conditions obtain. A third type of knowledge is explicit control information, either in the form of a ‘conflict resolution’ strategy, saying how to decide which of several alternatives to pursue, or (increasingly common) in the form of a statistically driven component also deciding among several competing hypotheses on the basis of prior experience. We shall not be concerned with this type of knowledge in the following.
Complement activation and adult respiratory distress syndrome during intermittent flow apheresis procedures

We observed complement (C) activation during intermittent flow apheresis procedures (Haemonetics model 30) in four subjects, two of whom developed adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Actual C3 conversion during apheresis was illustrated by the finding of significantly elevated C3d levels (p < 0.05) and of significantly increased alpha‐1‐antitrypsin/C3 ratios (p < 0.05) in postapheresis serums. Similarly, marked granulocyte aggregating activity was found in these serums, indicative of the generation of significant amounts of the C‐derived anaphylatoxin, C5a or C5a desarginine. A mean decrease of 59.75 percent in neutrophil count during the four procedures suggested sequestration of aggregated granulocytes in the pulmonary vasculature. Moreover, granulocytes activated by apheresis serums induced significant 51Cr leak from cultured human endothelial cells in vitro (p < 0.001). We conclude that inflammatory C components produced during apheresis procedures may provoke granulocyte aggregation and embolization, leading to plugging of the pulmonary vasculature, and that apheresis‐activated granulocytes may induce endothelial cytotoxicity, leading to the capillary leakage syndrome, characteristic of ARDS. Individual variability in C5a generation capacity or alterations in normal C5a clearing mechanisms may account for the low incidence of clinical C activation and true ARDS during apheresis. In these instances, high‐dose steroids, which interfere with granulocyte‐C interactions, may be beneficial.
An hereditary motor neurone disease with progressive denervation of muscle in the mouse: the mutant 'wobbler'.

More than one hundred hereditary neurological diseases of mice are now on record (Gruneberg, 1952, 1956; Sidman, Green, and Appel, 1965). For many of these conditions only clinical descriptions and genetic data are available and few pathological investigations have been made. This paper describes the clinical and pathological studies of an hereditary disease in mice in which the primary abnormality appears to be located in the perikaryon of motor neurones. The disease arose as the result of a spontaneous mutation in the C57 BL/Fa strain of mice at the Institute of Animal Genetics, Edinburgh. The mutant, which was named 'wobbler' (Falconer, 1956) is transmitted by an autosomal recessive gene wr (see Appendix). The clinical and pathological characteristics of this mutant were briefly described in a preliminary communication (Duchen, Falconer, and Strich, 1966).