gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Myostatin and follistatin expression in skeletal muscles of rats with chronic heart failure (2009)

Skeletal muscle abnormalities can contribute to decreased exercise capacity in heart failure. Although muscle atrophy is a common alteration in heart failure, the mechanisms responsible for muscle mass reduction are not clear. Myostatin, a member of TGF-beta family (transforming growth factor), regulates muscle growth and mass. Several studies have shown a negative correlation between myostatin expression and muscle mass. The aim of this study was to evaluate myostatin expression in skeletal muscles of rats with heart failure. As myostatin gene expression can be modulated by follistatin, we also evaluated its expression. Heart failure was induced by myocardial infarction (MI, n = 10); results were compared to Sham-operated group (n = 10). Ventricular function was assessed by echocardiogram. Gene expression was analyzed by real-time PCR and protein levels by Western blotting in the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles; fibre trophism was evaluated by morphometric analysis. MI group presented heart failure evidence such as pleural effusion and right ventricular hypertrophy. Left ventricular dilation and dysfunction were observed in MI group. In the soleus muscle, cross-sectional area (P = 0.006) and follistatin protein levels (Sham 1.00 +/- 0.36; MI 0.18 +/- 0.06 arbitrary units; P = 0.03) were lower in MI and there was a trend for follistatin gene expression to be lower in MI group (P = 0.085). There was no change in myostatin expression between groups. In gastrocnemius, all MI group parameters were statistically similar to the Sham. In conclusion, our data show that during chronic heart failure, decreased skeletal muscle trophism is combined with unchanged myostatin and reduced follistatin expression.
Genomic targeting with purified Cre recombinase (1993)

Purified Cre recombinase protein introduced directly into cultured mammalian cells by lipofection catalyzes both site-specific chromosomal integration of a co-transfected lox targeting vector and precise excision of genomic DNA flanked by directly repeated lox sites. This procedure eliminates the need to transfect cre expression plasmids to activate recombination at lox sites. We used this simplified procedure to investigate the effect on targeting efficiency of both lox vector design and chromosomal position of the lox target. We show that such chromosomal position effects can exert at least a 50-fold per lox target difference in targeting efficiency in a human osteosarcoma cell line.
Evaluating Mutant Mice: Anatomic Pathology (2001)

As the human and mouse genome projects approach their goals, initiatives in functional genomics are advancing. When the nucleotide sequences are available, identification of gene functions will assume even greater importance. Determination of gene products and their proximal biochemical functions provide a part of the picture, but determination of their functions in the context of the whole organism is the ultimate goal. The manipulated mouse genome has become accepted as a model for understanding the genetic basis of human conditions and diseases. Consequently, biomedical research institutions have seen significant increases in the use of mice since the early 1980s, and these increases are largely attributable to the use of genetically modified mice. The role of comparative pathology in research on mutant mouse models of disease is increasing in response to these trends. Evaluation and phenotypic characterization of mutant mice, via clinical and anatomic pathology techniques, will be an important component of functional genomics initiatives.
EphA2 as target of anticancer immunotherapy: identification of HLA-A*0201-restricted epitopes. (2003)

EphA2 (Eck) is a tyrosine kinase receptor that is overexpressed in several human cancers such as breast, colon, lung, prostate, gastric carcinoma, and metastatic melanoma but not in nonmalignant counterparts. To validate EphA2 as a tumor antigen recognized by CD8+ T lymphocytes, we used reverse immunology approach to identify HLA-A*0201-restricted epitopes. Peptides bearing the HLA-A*0201-specific anchor motifs were analyzed for their capacity to bind and stabilize the HLA-A*0201 molecules. Two peptides, EphA2(58) and EphA2(550), with a high affinity for HLA-A*0201 were selected. Both peptides were immunogenic in the HLA-A*0201-transgenic HHD mice. Interestingly, peptide-specific murine CTLs cell lines responded to COS-7 cells coexpressing HLA-A*0201 and EphA2 and to EphA2-positive human tumor cells of various origin (renal cell, lung, and colon carcinoma and sarcoma). This demonstrates that EphA2(58) and EphA2(550) are naturally processed from endogenous EphA2. In addition, EphA2(58) and EphA2(550) stimulated specific CD8(+) T cells from healthy donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These T cells recognized EphA2-positive human tumor cells in an HLA-A*0201-restricted manner. Interestingly, EphA2-specific CD8+ T cells were detected in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of prostate cancer patients. These results show for the first time that EphA2 is a tumor rejection antigen and lead us to propose EphA2(58) and EphA2(550) peptides for a broad-spectrum-tumor immunotherapy.
The Perception-Distortion Tradeoff (2018)

Image restoration algorithms are typically evaluated by some distortion measure (e.g. PSNR, SSIM, IFC, VIF) or by human opinion scores that quantify perceived perceptual quality. In this paper, we prove mathematically that distortion and perceptual quality are at odds with each other. Specifically, we study the optimal probability for correctly discriminating the outputs of an image restoration algorithm from real images. We show that as the mean distortion decreases, this probability must increase (indicating worse perceptual quality). As opposed to the common belief, this result holds true for any distortion measure, and is not only a problem of the PSNR or SSIM criteria. However, as we show experimentally, for some measures it is less severe (e.g. distance between VGG features). We also show that generative-adversarial-nets (GANs) provide a principled way to approach the perception-distortion bound. This constitutes theoretical support to their observed success in low-level vision tasks. Based on our analysis, we propose a new methodology for evaluating image restoration methods, and use it to perform an extensive comparison between recent super-resolution algorithms.
Therapeutic trial with glycine in myoclonus (1988)

We investigated the therapeutic effects of glycine in seven patients with various forms of myoclonus. The initial phase was an open label trial. If benefit was seen in any patient, a double-blind substitution of placebo was carried out to determine if the benefit was due, in fact, to glycine. The dosage of glycine was initiated at 600 mg/day and was increased gradually until a maximum dosage of 6,000 mg/day was reached. This dosage was maintained for at least 6 weeks before lack of efficacy was declared. No improvement was seen in four patients. One patient reported improvement, but he discontinued the drug because of adverse effects encountered with the use of a concomitant medication and before he could be tested in a double-blind crossover phase. Two other patients also noticed improvement, but these improvements were not validated in the crossover phase. There were no adverse effects associated with glycine. Plasma glycine levels peaked at 30 min and returned to normal 1.5-h after 1 g of glycine.p.o. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glycine levels did not change during treatment, suggesting inadequate penetration into the central nervous system of glycine at the dosage used.
Adrenal Androgens and Intracrinology (2004)

In postmenopausal women, all estrogens and nearly all androgens are made locally in peripheral target tissues from the inactive adrenal steroid precursor dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). In adult men, approximated 50% of androgens are made locally. This new section of endocrinology, which describes the local formation of sex steroids, has been named intracrinology. In fact, all the enzymes required to make androgens and estrogens are expressed in a cell-specific fashion, thus permitting local control of steroid formation and action. The local inhibition of sex steroid formation or action has shown important benefits in the treatment of hormone-sensitive cancers, including significant prolongation of survival and even curing localized disease. On the other hand, exogenous DHEA provides important advantages in postmenopausal women because it compensates for the declining secretion of DHEA by the adrenals with age. The benefits of DHEA include increased bone mineral density, muscle mass, well-being, and libido, as well as beneficial effects against skin atrophy, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
Does anyone survive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma? A nationwide study re-evaluating the data of the Finnish Cancer Registry (2005)

This study indicates that (1) the prognosis of PDAC remains poor and (2) careful histopathological review of all patients with pancreatic cancer is mandatory if survival data are to be meaningful.
Hyaluronidase reduces human breast cancer xenografts in SCID mice (2002)

A hyaluronan-rich environment often correlate with tumor progression. and may be one mechanism for the invasive behavior of malignancies. Eradication of hyaluronan by hyaluronidase administration could reduce tumor aggressiveness and would provide, therefore, a new anti-cancer strategy. Hyaluronan interaction with its CD44 receptor and the resulting signal transduction events may be among the mechanisms for hyaluronan-associated cancer progression. We have shown previously that hyaluronidase treatment of breast cancer cells in vitro not only eradicates hyaluronan but also modifies expression of CD44 variant exons of tumor cells. We now determine if such effects occur in vivo and if it is accompanied by tumor regression. SCID mice bearing xenografts of human breast carcinomas were given intravenous hyaluronidase. Tumor volumes decreased 50% in 4 days. Tumor sections showed decreased hyaluronan. Intensity of staining for CD44s was not affected, whereas staining for specific CD44 variant exon isoforms was greatly reduced in residual tumors. Necrosis was not evident. Hyaluronidase, used previously as an adjunct in cancer treatment, presumably to enhance penetration of chemotherapeutic drugs, may itself have intrinsic anti-cancer activity. Removing peritumor hyaluronan appears to cause an irreversible change in tumor metabolism. Continuous hyaluronan binding to CD44 variant exon isoforms may also be required to stabilize inherently unstable isoforms that participate perhaps in tumor progression. Further investigation is required to confirm a cause and effect relationship between loss of hyaluronan, changes in CD44 variant exon expression and tumor reduction. If confirmed, hyaluronidase may provide a new class of anti-cancer therapeutics and one without toxic side effects.
Expanding the bandwidth of slow-light photonic devices based on coupled resonators (2005)

It is shown theoretically that canceling third-order dispersion can substantially increase the useful bandwidths of linear and nonlinear optical devices based on slow propagation of light. Cancellation on both global and local scales can be achieved by combination of the ring-based coupled resonator lines and all-pass optical filters.
Cholinergic medication for neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia (2002)

This review provides no strong evidence for the use of cholinergic agents in the treatment of neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia. While people receiving cholinergic treatment had a marginal benefit compared to placebo, because of the small sample size, the cumulative data must be interpreted as inconclusive. Clinicians and trialists considering using cholinergic agents to treat TD should balance the lack of evidence for the efficacy against the excess of side effects associated with these compounds.
Long-Lived Th2 Memory in Experimental Allergic Asthma (2002)

Although life-long immunity against pathogens is beneficial, immunological memory responses directed against allergens are potentially harmful. Because there is a paucity of information about Th2 memory cells in allergic disease, we established a model of allergic asthma in BALB/c mice to explore the generation and maintenance of Th2 memory. We induced disease without the use of adjuvants, thus avoiding Ag depots, and found that unlike allergic asthma in mice immunized with adjuvant, immunizing with soluble and aerosol OVA resulted in pathological lung lesions resembling human disease. To test memory responses we allowed mice with acute disease to recover and then re-exposed them to aerosol OVA a second time. Over 400 days later these mice developed OVA-dependent eosinophilic lung inflammation, airway hyperresponsiveness, mucus hypersecretion, and IgE. Over 1 year after recuperating from acute disease, mice had persistent lymphocytic lung infiltrates, Ag-specific production of IL-4 and IL-5 from spleen and lung cells in vitro, and elevated IgG1. Moreover, when recuperated mice were briefly aerosol challenged, we detected early expression of Th2 cytokine RNA in lungs. Taken together, these data demonstrate the presence of long-lived Th2 memory cells in spleen and lungs involved in the generation of allergic asthma upon Ag re-exposure.
Financial analysis of chronic transfusion for stroke prevention in sickle cell disease (2000)

Chronic red blood cell transfusion can prevent many of the manifestations of sickle cell disease. The medical costs of chronic transfusion and management of associated side effects, especially iron overload, are considerable. This study was undertaken to evaluate the financial impact of chronic transfusion for stroke prevention in patients with sickle cell anemia. Outpatient charges pertaining to hospital-based Medicare uniform bill (UB-92) codes, professional fees, and iron chelation were evaluated. Data were collected on 21 patients for a total of 296 patient months (mean, 14; median, 14 months/patient). Charges ranged from $9828 to $50 852 per patient per year. UB-92, chelation, and physician-related charges accounted for 53%, 42%, and 5% of total charges, respectively. Of UB-92 charges, 58% were associated with laboratory fees and 16% were related to the processing and administration of blood. Charges for patients who required chelation therapy ranged from $31 143 to $50 852 per patient per year (mean, $39 779; median, $38 607). Deferoxamine accounted for 71% of chelation-related charges, which ranged from $12 719 to $24 845 per patient per year (mean, $20 514; median, $21 381). The financial impact of chronic transfusion therapy for sickle cell disease is substantial with charges approaching $400 000 per patient decade for patients who require deferoxamine chelation. These data should be considered in reference to cost and efficacy analyses of alternative therapies for sickle cell disease, such as allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
A Risk Society (2013)

“Risk society” is a concept that was first framed by the German sociologist Ulrich Beck in Risk Society in 1986. In Beck’s view, the modern society had deviated from (Karl Marx’s) class society or (Max Weber’s) industrial society and had developed into a social form that is highly modern, known as the “risk society.” Social theories based on unequal distribution of wealth (the functional theory, Marxism, and various kinds of postindustrial or postmodern theories that derived from it) have lost their interpretability when it comes to the crisis and inequality in the distribution of risks. Therefore, there needs to be a turn in social theories, that is to say, “risk sociology” needs to be advanced with problem awareness being “how to avoid, minimize, and direct risks or hazards systematically created as a part of modernization.”
Inhalative preconditioning with hydrogen sulfide attenuated apoptosis after retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury. (2011)

H(2)S preconditioning mediates antiapoptotic effects in retinal I/R injury, thus exhibiting neuroprotection. Based on these observations, H(2)S could represent a novel and promising therapeutic agent to counteract neuronal injuries in the eye. Further studies are needed to prove H(2)S's neuroprotective propensity using a postconditioning approach.
Pregnancy Rates in Lactating Holstein–Friesian Cows after Artificial Insemination with Sexed Sperm (2006)

The effects of artificial insemination (AI) using sexed sperm on pregnancy rates have seldom been studied in lactating dairy cows on commercial dairy farms. We evaluated pregnancy results after AI of 306 lactating dairy cows, of which 157 were inseminated with 2x10(6) frozen/thawed sexed sperm and 149 with 15x10(6) frozen/thawed unsexed sperm. The average pregnancy and calving rates were 21.0% and 20% for the sexed-sperm AIs and 46% and 45% for the unseparated control-sperm AIs respectively (p<0.001). The proportion of female calves derived from sexed-sperm AI was 82% compared with 49% for control AI (p<0.01). The proportion of live and healthy calves in single births was 100% for sexed-sperm AI and 97% for control AI (p>0.05). Our results indicate that AI with low-dose sexed sperm under field conditions in commercial dairy herds without oestrus synchronization results in significantly reduced pregnancy rates compared with normal-dose AI. Improved insemination strategies combined with increased sperm doses are needed before the use of sexed sperm can be of any significant benefit for the dairy and beef industry.
Stress and infectious disease in humans. (1991)

This article reviews research on the role of stress in infectious disease as measured either by illness behaviors (symptoms and use of health services) or by verified pathology. Substantial evidence was found for an association between stress and increased illness behavior, and less convincing but provocative evidence was found for a similar association between stress and infectious pathology. Introverts, isolates, and persons lacking social skills may also be at increased risk for both illness behaviors and pathology. Psychobiological models of how stress could influence the onset and progression of infectious disease and a psychological model of how stress could influence illness behaviors are proposed.
Multi-throw plastic MMIC switches up to 6 GHz with integrated positive control logic (2003)

SP3T, SP4T, SPGT and SP8T GaAs MMIC switches with integrated positive control low-power decoder/driver logic are described for the first time. By integrating single-pole multi-throw microwave switches with positive voltage, low power decoder/drivers, the number of I/O control lines is significantly reduced, die area/cost is reduced and RF performance is improved. Positive control allows direct interfacing to standard CMOS/TTL drivers, simplifying PCB integration. These plastic packaged terminated multi-throw switches operate in the 2.4 GHz and 5.2/5.8 GHz ISM bands. Insertion losses are under 2 dB, return losses exceed 10 dB, isolations are more than 24 dB, one dB input power compressions range from 21-26 dBm and single tone third order intercepts exceed 35 dBm at 2 GHz. The logic operates from -40/spl deg/C to +85/spl deg/C with a 5 V supply voltage while consuming less than 30 mW of DC power. Control current requirements are under 100 uA per control line. Switching times are under 250 ns.
Data-Efficient Multirobot, Multitask Transfer Learning for Trajectory Tracking (2018)

Transfer learning has the potential to reduce the burden of data collection and to decrease the unavoidable risks of the training phase. In this letter, we introduce a multirobot, multitask transfer learning framework that allows a system to complete a task by learning from a few demonstrations of another task executed on another system. We focus on the trajectory tracking problem where each trajectory represents a different task, since many robotic tasks can be described as a trajectory tracking problem. The proposed multirobot transfer learning framework is based on a combined L <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sub> adaptive control and an iterative learning control approach. The key idea is that the adaptive controller forces dynamically different systems to behave as a specified reference model. The proposed multitask transfer learning framework uses theoretical control results (e.g., the concept of vector relative degree) to learn a map from desired trajectories to the inputs that make the system track these trajectories with high accuracy. This map is used to calculate the inputs for a new, unseen trajectory. Experimental results using two different quadrotor platforms and six different trajectories show that, on average, the proposed framework reduces the firstiteration tracking error by 74% when information from tracking a different single trajectory on a different quadrotor is utilized.
Glucosylceramide synthase is essential for alfalfa defensin‐mediated growth inhibition but not for pathogenicity of Fusarium graminearum (2007)

Antifungal defensins, MsDef1 and MtDef4, from Medicago spp., inhibit the growth of a fungal pathogen, Fusarium graminearum, at micromolar concentrations. However, molecular mechanisms by which they inhibit the growth of this fungus are not known. We have characterized a functional role of the fungal sphingolipid glucosylceramide in regulating sensitivity of the fungus to MsDef1 and MtDef4. A null mutation of the FgGCS1 gene encoding glucosylceramide synthase results in a mutant lacking glucosylceramide. The DeltaFggcs1-null mutant becomes resistant to MsDef1, but not to MtDef4. It shows a significant change in the conidial morphology and displays dramatic polar growth defect, and its mycelia are resistant to cell wall degrading enzymes. Contrary to its essential role in the pathogenicity of a human fungal pathogen, Cryptococcus neoformans, GCS1 is not required for the pathogenicity of F. graminearum. The DeltaFggcs1 mutant successfully colonizes wheat heads and corn silk, but its ability to spread in these tissues is significantly reduced as compared with the wild-type PH-1 strain. In contrast, it retains full virulence on tomato fruits and Arabidopsis thaliana floral and foliar tissues. Based on our findings, we conclude that glucosylceramide is essential for MsDef1-mediated growth inhibition of F. graminearum, but its role in fungal pathogenesis is host-dependent.
Adaptive interference suppression in multiuser wireless OFDM systems using antenna arrays (1999)

This paper considers the problem of mitigating fading and interference in wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) multiple access communication systems. Applications include cellular mobile radio, wireless local loop, and wireless local area networks. The effect of interchannel interference (ICI) arising from time-selective fading and frequency offsets and co-channel interference (CCI) is analyzed. A loop-timing method that enables a synchronous uplink between multiple mobile transceivers and a base-station is described. Adaptive antenna arrays are utilized at the base for uplink reception, and optimum array combining based on the maximum SINR criterion is used for each subchannel over slowly time-varying channels. For operation over fast time-varying channels, a novel two-stage adaptive array architecture that incorporates combined spatial diversity and constraint-based beamforming is presented. While ICI alone is most effectively overcome by spatial diversity, combined beamforming and diversity are most effective to combat CCI in the presence of fading. The overall method is suitable for real-time implementation and can be used in conjunction with traditional coding schemes to increase the link-margin.