Data Mining Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques

BACKGROUND:
Critical examination of the quality and validity of available allergic rhinitis (AR) literature is necessary to improve understanding and to appropriately translate this knowledge to clinical care of the AR patient. To evaluate the existing AR literature, international multidisciplinary experts with an interest in AR have produced the International Consensus statement on Allergy and Rhinology: Allergic Rhinitis (ICAR:AR).
METHODS:
Using previously described methodology, specific topics were developed relating to AR. Each topic was assigned a literature review, evidence-based review (EBR), or evidence-based review with recommendations (EBRR) format as dictated by available evidence and purpose within the ICAR:AR document. Following iterative reviews of each topic, the ICAR:AR document was synthesized and reviewed by all authors for consensus.
RESULTS:
The ICAR:AR document addresses over 100 individual topics related to AR, including diagnosis, pathophysiology, epidemiology, disease burden, risk factors for the development of AR, allergy testing modalities, treatment, and other conditions/comorbidities associated with AR.
CONCLUSION:
This critical review of the AR literature has identified several strengths; providers can be confident that treatment decisions are supported by rigorous studies. However, there are also substantial gaps in the AR literature. These knowledge gaps should be viewed as opportunities for improvement, as often the things that we teach and the medicine that we practice are not based on the best quality evidence. This document aims to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the AR literature to identify areas for future AR research and improved understanding.

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International Consensus Statement on Allergy and Rhinology: Allergic Rhinitis.

Preface Contents Special Topics 1. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 1.1 Poisons 1.2 Environmental Toxicology 1.3 Environmental Chemistry 1.4 Toxicity 1.5 Intoxication 1.5.1 Humans 1.5.2 Domestic Animals 1.5.3 Wildlife 1.5.4 Plants and Microorganisms 1.5.5 Ecosystems 1.6 Hazard and Risk 1.7 Major Toxic Hazards 1.8 Perspecive 1.9 References Special Topic 1: Ecotoxicology 2. Chemicals in the Environment 2.1 Chemicals in the Environment 2.2 Detection and Measurement 2.3 The Atmosphere 2.3.1 The Natural Atmosphere 2.3.2 Polluted Atmospheres 2.3.3 Indoor Air 2.4 Water 2.4.1 Natural Waters 2.4.2 Polluted Waters 2.5 Soils 2.5.1 Soil Composition 2.5.2 Toxic Waste 2.5.3 Pesticides 2.6 Biota 2.6.1 Toxic Organisms 2.6.2 Food 2.7 Chemicals in Everyday Life 2.8 References Special Topic 2: Pesticide Residues 3. Environmental Chemodynamics 3.1 Environmental Chemodynamics 3.2 Dissolution 3.3 Solvent Partitioning 3.4 Volitilization 3.5 Adsorption 3.6 Significance 3.7 References Special Topic 3: The Great Escape 4. Environmental Transport 4.1 Dissipation of Chemicals 4.2 Transport In and From Surface Water 4.2.1 Transport in solution 4.2.2 Transport between water and air 4.2.3 Transport on particles 4.3 Transport in Soil and Groundwater 4.3.1 Transport through soil 4.3.2 Transport in groundwater 4.4 Atmospheric Transport 4.4.1 Volatilization 4.4.2 Advection 4.4.3 Deposition 4.5 Commerical Conveyance 4.6 Global Transport 4.7 References Special Topic 4: Wind, Water, and Waves 5. Abiotic Transformations 5.1 Transformations 5.2 Photochemistry 5.2.1 Radiant energy 5.2.2 Photochemical recations 5.2.3 Solar energy 5.3 Oxidation 5.3.1 Radical oxidations 5.3.2 Atmospheric oxidants 5.3.3 Photochemical smog 5.3.4 Oxidations in water 5.3.5 Oxidations in soil 5.4 Reduction 5.4.1 Redox potentials 5.4.2 Reductions in soil 5.4.3 Reductions in water 5.5 Hydrolysis 5.5.1 Water 5.5.2 Hydrolysis in water 5.5.3 Hydrolysis in soil 5.6 Some Other Reactions 5.6.1 Alkylation 5.6.2 Beta-elimination 5.6.3 Chlorination 5.7 Summary of Abiotic Reactions 5.8 References Special Topic 5: Free Radicals and the Ozone Layer 6. Biotransformations 6.1 Biotransformations 6.2 Transformations by Microorganisms 6.2.1 Microorganisms 6.2.2 Oxidation 6.2.3 Cytochrome P450 6.2.4 Reduction 6.2.5 Hydrolysis 6.2.6 Other transformations 6.3 Transformations in Animals and Higher Plants 6.3.1 Primary (Phase I) metabolism 6.3.2 Secondary (Phase II) metabolism 6.4 Comparative Metabolism 6.5 References Special Topic 6: Anatomy of an Oil Spill 7. Intoxication 7.1 The Intoxication Process 7.2 Absorption and Disposition 7.2.1 Absorption 7.2.2 Disposition 7.2.3 Elimination 7.3 Factors Governing Intoxication 7.3.1 Metabolism (Biodegradation) 7.3.2 Bioavailability 7.3.3 Individual and species differences 7.3.4 Other factors 7.4 Toxic Effects 7.4.1 "Poisoning" 7.4.2 The nervous system 7.4.3 The skin 7.4.4 The respiratory system 7.4.5 Blood and internal organs 7.4.6 The reproductive system 7.4.7 Genes 7.5 References Special Topic 7: Adaption 8. Quantitative Toxicology 8.1 Dose-Response Relations 8.2 Factors Affecting Quantitative Responses 8.3 Toxicokinetics 8.4 Toxicity Measurements and Endpoints 8.4.1 Measurements 8.4.2 Acute toxicity 8.4.3 Life-cycle tests 8.4.4 Other bioassays 8.4.5 Mutagenicity tests 8.4.6 Phytotoxicity 8.4.7 Toxiciy tests for pesticide registration 8.4.8 Ethics and alternatives 8.5 Data from Humans 8.5.1 Toxicity tests 8.5.2 Mortality statistics 8.5.3 Exposure data 8.5.4 Epidemiology 8.6 References Special Topic 8: Epidemiology 9. Intoxication Mechanisms 9.1 The Biochemical Lesion 9.2 Receptors and Targets 9.3 Mechanisms of General Toxicity 9.4 Animal-specific Mechanisms 9.4.1 Nervous system 9.4.2 Liver 9.4.3 Intermediary metabolism 9.5 Plant-specific Mechanisms 9.5.1 Photosynthesis 9.5.2 Amino Acid biosynthesis 9.6 Microbe-specific Mechanisms 9.6.1 Cell wall synthesis 9.6.2 Sulfhydryl groups 9.7 Perspective 9.8 References Special Topic 9: Chemical Carcinogens 10. Exposure and Risk 10.1 Hazard and Risk 10.2 Exposure 10.3 Risk Assessments 10.3.1 Occupational exposure 10.3.2 Exposure at home 10.3.3 Risk characterization 10.4 Ecological Risk 10.4.1 Toxicity data 10.4.2 Scaling 10.4.3 Ecosystem risk 10.5 Risk management 10.5.1 Regulations 10.5.2 Risk communication 10.6 References Special Topic 10: PBPK Models 11. Inorganic Toxicants 11.1 Inorganic Toxicants 11.2 Some Basic Chemistry 11.3 Nonmetallic Elements 11.4 The Metalloids 11.4.1 Metalloids 11.4.2 Arsenic 11.4.3 Selenium 11.4.4 Tin 11.5 Heavy Elements 11.5.1 The heavy metals 11.5.2 Mercury 11.5.3 Lead 11.5.4 Thallium and bismuth 11.6 Transition Elements 11.6.1 Transition metals 11.6.2 Copper 11.6 3 Other transition elements 11.7 Radioactive elements 11.8 Other Toxic Elements 11.9 References Special Topic 11: Methylation of Metals and Metalloids 12. Biotoxins 12.1 Biotoxins 12.2 Alkaloids 12.3 Toxic Glycosides 12.4 Plant Phenolics 12.5 Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins 12.6 Lactone Mycotoxins 12.7 Perspective 12.8 References Special Topic 12: Allelochemicals 13. Industrial Chemicals 13.1 Industrial Chemicals 13.1.1 Minerals 13.1.2 Petroleum 13.2 Petrochemicals 13.2.1 Sources 13.2.2 Major petrochemicals 13.3 Toxic Byproducts and Conversion Products 13.3.1 Origin 13.3.2 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) 13.3.3 Hex waste 13.3.4 Chlorinated dioxins 13.4 References Special Topic 13: Why Chlorinate? 14. Refractory Pollutants 14.1 Refractory Chemicals 14.2 DDT and DDE 14.2.1 Background 14.2.2 Toxicity 14.2.3 Transport and transformation 14.2.4 DDE 14.3 Chlorinated Alicyclics 14.3.1 Benzene hexachloride (BHC) 14.3.2 Cyclodienes 14.3.3 Other organochlorine insecticides 14.4 Chlorinated Dioxins 14.5 Polychlorinated Biphenyls 14.6 Phthalate Esters 14.7 Perspective 14.8 References Special Topic 14: Environmental Persistence 15. Reactive Pollutants 15.1 Reactivity 15.2 Alkyl Halides 15.3 Chlorophenols 15.4 Divalent Sulfur Compounds 15.5 Dithioarbamates 15.6 Nitroarenes 15.7 Amines and Their Derivatives 15.8 Esters 15.9 Carbon Monoxide and Cyanides 15.10 Perspective 15.11 References Special Topic 15: Hazardous Waste 16. Predicting Environmental Fate and Toxicity 16.1 Quantitative Prediction 16.2 Predicting Environmental Transport 16.2.1 Linear free energy relations 16.2.2 Octanol-water partition coefficients 16.2.3 Bioconcentration factors 16.2.4 Aqueous solubility 16.2.5 Volatilization 16.2.6 Soil sorption coefficients 16.3 Predicting Environmental Transformations 16.3.1 Reactions and products 16.3.2 Equilibria and rates 16.4 Modelling Environmental Fate 16.5 Quantitative Structure-activity Relations (QSAR) 16.6 Microcosms (Model Ecosystems) 16.7 References Special Topic 16: QSAR and Toxicity GLOSSARY INDEX

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Psoriasis is one of the most common immune-mediated chronic, inflammatory skin diseases characterized by hyperproliferative keratinocytes and infiltration of T cells, dendritic cells, macrophages and neutrophils. Although the pathogenesis of psoriasis is not fully understood, there is ample evidence suggesting that the dysregulation of immune cells in the skin, particularly T cells, plays a critical role in psoriasis development. In this review, we mainly focus on the pathogenic T cells and discuss how these T cells are activated and involved in the disease pathogenesis. Newly identified ‘professional' IL-17-producing dermal γδ T cells and their potential role in psoriasis will also be included. Finally, we will briefly summarize the recent progress on the T cell and its related cytokine-targeted therapy for psoriasis treatment.

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New insights of T cells in the pathogenesis of psoriasis

Molecular dissection of psoriasis: integrating genetics and biology.

Retrospective analysis of free-fall fractures with regard to height and cause of fall

Some authors view keratoacanthoma (KA) as a variant of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), while others consider it a separate entity that must be distinguished from SCC. Involution displayed by KA is an important difference between these two entities. It has been suggested that apoptosis plays a role in the involution process of KA, although the exact trigger for it remains unclear. A hundred and fifty specimens were included in this study, 30 cases for each of the following groups: normal skin (NS), proliferative keratoacanthoma (pKA), regressing keratoacanthoma (rKA), well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (wdSCC), and poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (pdSCC). They were immunohistochemically examined for the expression of p53, Ki-67, bak, and bcl-2. Significantly higher p53 and Ki-67 expressions were observed in all tumor lesions examined as compared with NS. There was higher bak expression in KAs compared to NS and a significant reduction of bak expression in pdSCC together with a significant reduction of bak expression in SCCs compared to pKA. Bcl-2 expression was similar in NS and SCCs, but was lower in rKA. We found a significant positive correlation between p53 and Ki-67, p53 and Bak in NS and examined skin tumors. Lower bcl-2 expression in conjunction with higher bak expression in rKA suggests a possible role of these apoptosis-regulating proteins in tumor regression. In contrast to this finding, a steady level of bcl-2 expression in pdSCC combined with lower bak expression levels and a high proliferation rate could contribute to progression and aggressiveness in these tumors. Bak and p53 expression is a sun-related and age-dependent process in NS and skin tumors.

Expression of cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory proteins in keratoacanthoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Although anatomical properties and vessel variations of the celiac trunk are well explored in the literature, there is not so much information on the arterial diameters, and this data is important for surgical procedures and angiographic examinations. The aim of this study was to investigate properties of the celiac trunk in humans by using anatomical dissection. Ninety cadavers were dissected for the celiac trunk identification and arterial diameter measurements. The results of anatomical examination showed that in 72% of all cases the celiac trunk divides into the splenic artery and the common hepatic artery, while the left gastric artery arises as a first branch and had origin between aorta, all over the celiac trunk up to a bifurcation. From the 90 cadavers, 4 presented anatomical variations. Where normal anatomy was present, the mean length of the celiac trunk was 1.9 +/- 0.08 cm and its mean arterial diameter was 0.78 +/- 0.08 cm. The splenic artery had the largest diameter (0.61 +/- 0.05 cm) and the left gastric artery had the smallest diameter (0.38 +/- 0.03 cm). Our data represent original results about anatomical variations and arterial diameter of the celiac trunk and its main branches provided by anatomical dissection.

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Properties of the celiac trunk--anatomical study.

There are currently very few data regarding the role of cell-mediated cytotoxicity in psoriasis. Both cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells mediate cytotoxicity reactions, mainly by two distinct pathways, the perforin/granzyme and the Fas/Fas ligand pathway. Objectives were to study the expression and distribution of perforin, T- and NK-cell subsets in psoriatic lesional and nonlesional skin. Skin biopsy specimens from both lesional and nonlesional skin of 11 patients with chronic plaque psoriasis and eight healthy controls were analysed by immunohistochemistry. We found a significant increase in CD4+ and CD8+ cells in psoriatic lesions compared with nonlesional and healthy skin. The expression of CD16+ NK cells was significantly lower in lesions compared with healthy skin. Perforin expression was significantly enhanced in the epidermis of psoriatic lesions. Perforin expression is upregulated in the epidermis of psoriatic lesions, suggesting a potential role for perforin in the creation of the psoriatic plaque.

Perforin expression is upregulated in the epidermis of psoriatic lesions

This epidemiological study is completed on island Rab, located in North Adriatic Sea. For this study it is important that Adriatic Sea has one of the highest solar radiations in geographical area of Europe. The aim of this epidemiological study is to estimate correlation between incidence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and exposure of sunlight in two different populations on island Rab. In the first group of population of island Rab, agriculturists and fishermen (n=1300), incidence of AMD was in 18%, but in urban population only 2.5%. It is very interesting that correlation exists between incidence of AMD and exfoliation syndrome. In the group of chronic exposure to sunlight (agriculturists and fishermen) exfoliation syndrome exists in 28%, but in urban population it has never been seen. The age in both populations was 45–65 years. We can conclude that there is a very significant correlation between chronic exposure to sunlight and appearance of AMD.

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Miran Čoklo

Papers

Retrospective analysis of free-fall fractures with regard to height and cause of fall

Expression of cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory proteins in keratoacanthoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Properties of the celiac trunk--anatomical study.

Perforin expression is upregulated in the epidermis of psoriatic lesions

Ultraviolet sun radiation and incidence of age-related macular degeneration on Croatian Island Rab.