TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage classify if the passage has a definite objective/aim/goal or not. Output '1' if the passage has a defininte objective/aim/goal and output '0' if the passage does not have a definite objective/aim/goal.
PROBLEM: To report 4 patients with Avellino corneal dystrophy (ACD) who were treated with 0.02% mitomycin C (MMC) during phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK).', 'ACD was confirmed by polymorphism of the exon region in the BIGH3 gene using polymerase chain reaction followed by DNA sequencing analysis. Three patients with recurrent ACD and 1 patient with primary ACD underwent PTK. Intraoperative 0.02% MMC was applied topically with a soaked microsponge.', 'There was no recurrence of ACD in the heterozygotes, but there were recurrences with best-corrected visual acuity of 20/30 in the 2 homozygotes.

SOLUTION: 1

PROBLEM: Rush immunotherapy (RIT) presents an attractive alternative to standard immunotherapy. However, RIT carries a much greater risk of acute allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis.', 'We hypothesized that omalizumab, a humanized monoclonal anti-IgE antibody, would be effective in enhancing both safety and efficacy of RIT.', 'Adult patients with ragweed allergic rhinitis were enrolled in a 3-center, 4-arm, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial. Patients received either 9 weeks of omalizumab (0.016 mg/kg/IgE [IU/mL]/mo) or placebo, followed by 1-day rush (maximal dose 1.2-4.0 mug Amb a 1) or placebo immunotherapy, then 12 weeks of omalizumab or placebo plus immunotherapy.', 'Of the 159 patients enrolled, 123 completed all treatments. Ragweed-specific IgG levels increased >11-fold in immunotherapy patients, and free IgE levels declined >10-fold in omalizumab patients. Patients receiving omalizumab plus immunotherapy had fewer adverse events than those receiving immunotherapy alone. Post hoc analysis of groups receiving immunotherapy demonstrated that addition of omalizumab resulted in a 5-fold decrease in risk of anaphylaxis caused by RIT (odds ratio, 0.17; P = .026). On an intent-to-treat basis, patients receiving both omalizumab and immunotherapy showed a significant improvement in severity scores during the ragweed season compared with those receiving immunotherapy alone (0.69 vs 0.86; P = .044).

SOLUTION: 1

PROBLEM: Oxidants are believed to play a major role in the development of emphysema.', 'This study aimed to determine if the expression of human copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) within the lungs of mice protects against the development of emphysema.', 'Transgenic CuZnSOD and littermate mice were exposed to cigarette smoke (6 h/d, 5 d/wk, for 1 yr) and compared with nonexposed mice. A second group was treated with intratracheal elastase to induce emphysema.', 'Lung inflammation was measured by cell counts and myeloperoxidase levels. Oxidative damage was assessed by immunofluorescence for 3-nitrotyrosine and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine and lipid peroxidation levels. The development of emphysema was determined by measuring the mean linear intercept (Lm).', 'Smoke exposure caused a fourfold increase in neutrophilic inflammation and doubled lung myeloperoxidase activity. This inflammatory response did not occur in the smoke-exposed CuZnSOD mice. Similarly, CuZnSOD expression prevented the 58% increase in lung lipid peroxidation products that occurred after smoke exposure. Most important, CuZnSOD prevented the onset of emphysema in both the smoke-induced model (Lm, 68 exposed control vs. 58 exposed transgenic; p < 0.04) and elastase-generated model (Lm, 80 exposed control vs. 63 exposed transgenic; p < 0.03). These results demonstrate for the first time that antioxidants can prevent smoke-induced inflammation and can counteract the proteolytic cascade that leads to emphysema formation in two separate animal models of the disease.

SOLUTION:
1