The Immunological Basis of Dry Eye Disease and Current Topical Treatment Options.

Homeostasis of the lacrimal functional unit is needed to ensure a well-regulated ocular immune response comprising innate and adaptive phases. When the ocular immune system is excessively stimulated and/or immunoregulatory mechanisms are disrupted, the balance between innate and adaptive phases is dysregulated and chronic ocular surface inflammation can result, leading to chronic dry eye disease (DED). According to the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society Dry Eye Workshop II definition, DED is a multifactorial disorder of the ocular surface characterized by impairment and loss of tear homeostasis (hyperosmolarity), ocular discomfort or pain, and neurosensory abnormalities. Dysregulated ocular immune responses result in ocular surface damage, which is a further contributing factor to DED pathology. Several therapeutics are available to break the vicious circle of DED and prevent chronic disease and progression, including immunosuppressive agents (steroids) and immunomodulators (cyclosporine and lifitegrast). Given the chronic inflammatory nature of DED, each of these agents is commonly used in clinical practice. In this study, we review the immunopathology of DED and the molecular and cellular actions of current topical DED therapeutics to inform clinical decision making

How important are fog and the cloud forest as a water supply in Eastern Mexico?

The water balance is the volume of water flowing through the hydrological cycle, and one of its main components is fog. Fog is considered a type of low-lying cloud and is heavily influenced by water bodies, topography, and wind conditions. Fog incorporates water from the atmosphere to the terrestrial surface and for some ecosystems (e.g., cloud forests) represents a great water contribution. In this work, we aimed to answer the following questions: (1) What is the fog-water contribution to the water balance? (2) How does the presence of vegetation affect the water supply to the ecosystem? We took as a case study the Central Mountain Region of Veracruz, in eastern Mexico, and measured components of the water balance; this included precipitation (gross and net), fog water, interception, transpiration, evapotranspiration, and condensation, and we estimated water gain and loss of the water balance. We registered 510 precipitation events distributed throughout the year with three peaks (October, May, and January). Of these, 386 were fog events, 41 were rain events, and 83 were events combining fog and rain. Fog had a substantial contribution of water to the system, with a volume 22 times greater than that of rain (4311.14 mm vs. 197.5 mm). From the total water gain, the highest proportion (91%) was contributed by fog interception. Fog was considered a constant source of moisture throughout the year; however, water intercepted during the dry season was higher (56%) compared with the wet season (36%). Our results highlight the importance of the fog as a source of water for the region

Role of Interleukin 12 and Costimulators in T Cell Anergy In Vivo

The induction of T cell anergy in vivo is thought to result from antigen recognition in the absence of co-stimulation and inflammation, and is associated with a block in T cell proliferation and Th1 differentiation. Here we have examined the role of interleukin (IL)-12, a potent inducer of Th1 responses, in regulating this process. T cell tolerance was induced by the administration of protein antigen without adjuvant in normal mice, and in recipients of adoptively transferred T cells from T cell receptor transgenic mice. The administration of IL-12 at the time of tolerance induction stimulates Th1 differentiation, but does not promote antigen-specific T cell proliferation. Conversely, inhibiting CTLA-4 engagement during anergy induction reverses the block in T cell proliferation, but does not promote full Th1 differentiation. T cells exposed to tolerogenic antigen in the presence of both IL-12 and anti–CTLA-4 antibody are not anergized, and behave identically to T cells which have encountered immunogenic antigen. These results suggest that two processes contribute to the induction of anergy in vivo; CTLA-4 engagement, which leads to a block in the ability of T cells to proliferate to antigen, and the absence of a prototypic inflammatory cytokine, IL-12, which prevents the differentiation of T cells into Th1 effector cells. The combination of IL-12 and anti–CTLA-4 antibody is sufficient to convert a normally tolerogenic stimulus to an immunogenic one

gec estro acrop recommendations in skin brachytherapy

Abstract Purpose The aim of this publication is to compile available literature data and expert experience regarding skin brachytherapy (BT) in order to produce general recommendations on behalf of the GEC-ESTRO Group. Methods We have done an exhaustive review of published articles to look for general recommendations. Results Randomized controlled trials, systemic reviews and meta-analysis are lacking in literature and there is wide variety of prescription techniques successfully used across the radiotherapy centers. BT can be delivered as superficial application (also called contact BT or plesiotherapy) or as interstitial for tumours thicker than 5 mm within any surface, including very irregular. In selected cases, particularly in tumours located within curved surfaces, BT can be advantageous modality from dosimetric and planning point of view when compared to external beam radiotherapy. The general rule in skin BT is that the smaller the target volume, the highest dose per fraction and the shortest overall length of treatment can be used. Conclusion Skin cancer incidence is rising worldwide. BT offers an effective non-invasive or minimally invasive and relative short treatment that particularly appeals to elder and frail population

FuSSI-Net: Fusion of Spatio-temporal Skeletons for Intention Prediction Network

Pedestrian intention recognition is very important to develop robust and safe autonomous driving (AD) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) functionalities for urban driving. In this work, we develop an end-to-end pedestrian intention framework that performs well on day- and night- time scenarios. Our framework relies on objection detection bounding boxes combined with skeletal features of human pose. We study early, late, and combined (early and late) fusion mechanisms to exploit the skeletal features and reduce false positives as well to improve the intention prediction performance. The early fusion mechanism results in AP of 0.89 and precision/recall of 0.79/0.89 for pedestrian intention classification. Furthermore, we propose three new metrics to properly evaluate the pedestrian intention systems. Under these new evaluation metrics for the intention prediction, the proposed end-to-end network offers accurate pedestrian intention up to half a second ahead of the actual risky maneuver.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables, IEEE Asilomar SS

Spanish Energy Market: Overview Towards Price Forecast

This paper aims to give an overview of the Spanish Electric Market. This energy market is liberalized and complex due the new and modified rules along time. Due these circumstances the hourly energy prices may vary tremendously.  The goal of this work is to analyze in detail the generation technologies, their strategies and energy mix to gain awareness and knowledge to evaluate energy price fluctuations. Two methods are used to forecast in different time horizons: ARIMAX and NARX. Both methods are homologous, using historical energy prices and optionally an explanatory variable. Three options are studied: no explanatory, energy demand and competitive market.  Once the models are developed and trained, the results achieved are helpful to understand further changes in the market. These energy forecasts are competent to schedule energy generation and/or consumption. Keywords: Energy Market, Forecasting, Time Series JEL Classifications: C5.1; L1.

Dynamic mechanical behavior of starch-based scaffolds in dry and physiologically simulated conditions: effect of porosity and pore size

The three-dimensional scaffolds of a blend of starch and poly(L-lactic) acid, SPLA70, were produced using compression molding of polymer/salt mixture followed by leaching of salt. One series of scaffolds were prepared with varying polymer-to-salt ratio while keeping the salt size constant, and the other series of scaffolds were prepared with varying salt sizes while keeping the polymer-to-salt ratio constant. The X-ray microcomputed tomography and scanning electron microscopy assay were used to analyze the porous morphologies, porosity and distribution of porosity of the porous scaffolds. Salt-free and integrated SPLA70 scaffolds with porosities ranging from 74% to 82% and pore sizes of 125–250 to 500–1000 lm can be fabricated using the present fabrication technique. The water uptake of the SPLA70 scaffolds increases with increasing porosities and also with increasing pore size. In dry state, the storage modulus decreases with increasing porosity and also with increasing pore size. The normalized modulus values are related to normalized density of the scaffolds by a power-law function with an exponent between 2 and 3. For the immersed scaffolds under physiological conditions, the storage modulus was less dependent on porosity and pore size. However, the loss factor increased significantly compared with dry state measurements. The present study clearly shows that the mechanical performance of porous polymeric constructs in dry and in immersed state is completely different, and for comparison with biomechanical performance of tissues, the tests should ideally be performed in immersed state

ExoMol Molecular linelists -- XXXIII. The spectrum of Titanium Oxide

Accurate line lists are crucial for correctly modelling a variety of astrophysical phenomena, including stellar photospheres and the atmospheres of extra-solar planets. This paper presents a new line database Toto for the main isotopologues of titanium oxide (TiO): $^{46}$Ti$^{16}$O, $^{47}$Ti$^{16}$O, $^{48}$Ti$^{16}$O, $^{49}$Ti$^{16}$O and $^{50}$Ti$^{16}$O. The TiO line list contains transitions with wave-numbers up to 30,000 cm$^{-1}$ ie long-wards of 0.33 $\mu$m. The Toto line list includes all dipole-allowed transitions between 13 low-lying electronic states (X $^3\Delta$, a $^1\Delta$, d $^1\Sigma^+$, E $^3\Pi$, A $^3\Phi$ B $^3\Pi$, C $^3\Delta$, b $^1\Pi$, c $^1\Phi$, f $^1\Delta$, e $^1\Sigma^+$). Ab initio potential energy curves (PECs) are computed at the icMRCI level and combined with spin-orbit and other coupling curves. These PECs and couplings are iteratively refined to match known empirical energy levels. Accurate line intensities are generated using ab initio dipole moment curves. The Toto line lists are appropriate for temperatures below 5000 K and contain 30 million transitions for TiO; it is made available in electronic form via the CDS data centre and via www.exomol.com. Tests of the line lists show greatly improved agreement with observed spectra for objects such as M-dwarfs GJ876 and GL581

Influence of post-deposition annealing on the chemical states of crystalline tantalum pentoxide films

We investigate the effect of post-deposition annealing (for temperatures from 848 K to 1273 K) on the chemical properties of crystalline Ta$_2$O$_5$ films grown on Si(100) substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The atomic arrangement, as determined by X-ray diffraction, is predominately hexagonal ($\delta$-Ta$_2$O$_5$) for the films exposed to heat treatments at 948 K and 1048 K; orthorhombic ($\beta$-Ta$_2$O$_5$) for samples annealed at 1148 K and 1273 K; and amorphous for samples annealed at temperatures below 948 K. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for Ta $4f$ and O $1s$ core-levels were performed to evaluate the chemical properties of all films as a function of annealing temperature. Upon analysis, it is observed the Ta $4f$ spectrum characteristic of Ta in Ta$^{5+}$ and the formation of Ta-oxide phases with oxidation states Ta$^{1+}$, Ta$^{2+}$, Ta$^{3+}$, and Ta$^{4+}$. The study reveals that the increase in annealing temperature increases the percentage of the state Ta$^{5+}$ and the reduction of the others indicating that higher temperatures are more desirable to produce Ta$_2$O$_5$, however, there seems to be an optimal annealing temperature that maximizes the O\% to Ta\% ratio. We found that at 1273 K the ratio slightly reduces suggesting oxygen depletion.Comment: 7 pages, 1 table, 6 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1804.02067, arXiv:1704.0551