gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Poly(p-phenylenevinylene) light-emitting diodes: Enhanced electroluminescent efficiency through charge carrier confinement (1992)

We have fabricated light-emitting diodes with poly(p-phenylenevinylene) as the emissive layer, and with an electron-transporting layer formed from a solid state dispersion of 2-(4-biphenylyl)-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole in poly(methyl methacrylate), placed between this and the negative electrode. These structures show typically a tenfold improvement in efficiency in the low-voltage regime and an eightfold improvement in the high-voltage regime over devices without the electron-transporting layer. Typical efficiencies are about 0.8% photons/electron. We consider that the role of the electron-transport layer is to confine holes to the emissive layer.
Highly sensitive two-site immunoradiometric assay of parathyrin, and its clinical utility in evaluating patients with hypercalcemia. (1987)

We have developed a highly sensitive, two-site immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) for human parathyrin (PTH) that is specific for the intact, secreted, biologically active 84-amino-acid peptide. This assay has several technical advantages: it does not detect even high concentrations of inactive carboxyl-terminal fragments, results are available within 24 h, and the detection limit for intact hormone is low (1 ng/L). The assay readily measures concentrations of PTH in all healthy subjects and distinguishes these values from low or undetectable PTH values observed in clinical situations in which PTH secretion is expected to be suppressed. We found complete separation of results from 37 patients with surgically proven hyperparathyroidism and those from 23 patients with hypercalcemia associated with malignancy, the latter having PTH values at or below the lower limits of normal for this assay. The sensitivity, specificity, and rapid turnaround time of this two-site IRMA should advance the laboratory evaluation of patients with disorders of calcium metabolism.
A Simplified Method of Implanting a Neuromodulator Device (2003)

This modification is simple, efficient, safe and involves use of tools already familiar to urologists. By reducing the number of incisions, it reduces violation of the skin barrier and consequently risk of infection. Infection is potentially reduced at stage 2 because there is undisturbed, noncontused virgin tissue at the site of generator implant.
Quality assessments of waste milk at a calf ranch (2009)

Nonsaleable whole milk from dairy farms is potentially an economical, nutritious source of feed for neonatal calves but it can have serious quality problems. Many calf-rearing operations that utilize this milk have no system in place to assess or manage quality problems other than pasteurization. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the quality of nonsaleable whole milk from dairy farms being used to feed neonatal calves using a set of standard milk quality monitors. In this study, nonsaleable whole milk samples from 12 dairies supplying both milk and calves to one calf ranch were collected and evaluated for total solids (TS) percentage, bacterial counts, coagulation with ethanol, somatic cell counts, and pH. Milk quality was not uniform among the farms. Bacterial counts provided relatively little useful information to assess milk quality, because most samples (9/12) had very high bacteria counts. The most variable quality finding was TS percentage. Many samples were low in TS, contributing to a low TS percentage in pooled milk being fed to calves, which created a poor nutritional product delivered to them. Although there are advantages to feeding nonsaleable whole milk to preweaned calves, there can be significant disadvantages if the quality of the product is poor. Microbial quality is an important aspect of milk, but most of the samples were highly contaminated and the need for pasteurization was assumed. Simpler and more immediate monitoring methods such as milk pH, the alcohol test, and TS could be used at the ranch to make decisions on whether to use the milk. On the study ranch, a program to evaluate the TS of nonsaleable whole milk was implemented and a chart to add solids was devised for the producer so that the neonatal calves would not be underfed nutrients. Implementing these measures will help improve the health and growth of young calves.
Tumor necrosis factor in the heart (1998)

The heart is a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-producing organ. Both myocardial macrophages and cardiac myocytes themselves synthesize TNF. Accumulating evidence indicates that myocardial TNF is an autocrine contributor to myocardial dysfunction and cardiomyocyte death in ischemia-reperfusion injury, sepsis, chronic heart failure, viral myocarditis, and cardiac allograft rejection. Indeed, locally (vs. systemically) produced TNF contributes to postischemic myocardial dysfunction via direct depression of contractility and induction of myocyte apoptosis. Lipopolysaccharide or ischemia-reperfusion activates myocardial P38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and nuclear factor kappa B, which lead to TNF production. TNF depresses myocardial function by nitric oxide (NO)-dependent and NO-independent (sphingosine dependent) mechanisms. TNF activation of TNF receptor 1 or Fas may induce cardiac myocyte apoptosis. MAP kinases and TNF transcription factors are feasible targets for anti-TNF (i.e., cardioprotective) strategies. Endogenous anti-inflammatory ligands, which trigger the gp130 signaling cascade, heat shock proteins, and TNF-binding proteins, also control TNF production and activity. Thus modulation of TNF in cardiovascular disease represents a realistic goal for clinical medicine.
Recent Treatment Advances and Novel Therapies in Pancreas Cancer: A Review (2013)

We hope that at least some of these will result in positive trials and add to our armamentarium for treating this challenging malignancy.
Small GTPases and cilia (2011)

Small GTPases are key molecular switches that bind and hydrolyze GTP in diverse membrane- and cytoskeleton-related cellular processes. Recently, mounting evidences have highlighted the role of various small GTPases, including the members in Arf/Arl, Rab, and Ran subfamilies, in cilia formation and function. Once overlooked as an evolutionary vestige, the primary cilium has attracted more and more attention in last decade because of its role in sensing various extracellular signals and the association between cilia dysfunction and a wide spectrum of human diseases, now called ciliopathies. Here we review recent advances about the function of small GTPases in the context of cilia, and the correlation between the functional impairment of small GTPases and ciliopathies. Understanding of these cellular processes is of fundamental importance for broadening our view of cilia development and function in normal and pathological states and for providing valuable insights into the role of various small GTPases in disease processes, and their potential as therapeutic targets.
Long-Chain Aldehyde Dehydrogenase That Participates in n -Alkane Utilization and Wax Ester Synthesis in Acinetobacter sp. Strain M-1 (2000)

A long-chain aldehyde dehydrogenase, Ald1, was found in a soluble fraction of Acinetobacter sp. strain M-1 cells grown on n-hexadecane as a sole carbon source. The gene (ald1) was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of the bacterium. The open reading frame of ald1 was 1,512 bp long, corresponding to a protein of 503 amino acid residues (molecular mass, 55,496 Da), and the deduced amino acid sequence showed high similarity to those of various aldehyde dehydrogenases. The ald1 gene was stably expressed in Escherichia coli, and the gene product (recombinant Ald1 [rAld1]) was purified to apparent homogeneity by gel electrophoresis. rAld1 showed enzyme activity toward n-alkanals (C(4) to C(14)), with a preference for longer carbon chains within the tested range; the highest activity was obtained with tetradecanal. The ald1 gene was disrupted by homologous recombination on the Acinetobacter genome. Although the ald1 disruptant (ald1Delta) strain still had the ability to grow on n-hexadecane to some extent, its aldehyde dehydrogenase activity toward n-tetradecanal was reduced to half the level of the wild-type strain. Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, the accumulation of intracellular wax esters in the ald1Delta strain became much lower than that in the wild-type strain. These and other results imply that a soluble long-chain aldehyde dehydrogenase indeed plays important roles both in growth on n-alkane and in wax ester formation in Acinetobacter sp. strain M-1.
GOAL: a load-balanced adaptive routing algorithm for torus networks (2004)

We introduce a load balanced adaptive routing algorithm for torus networks, GOAL - globally oblivious adaptive locally - that provides high throughput on adversarial traffic patterns, matching or exceeding fully randomized routing and exceeding the worst case performance of Chaos (K. Bolding et al., 1997), RLB (A. Singh et al., 2002), and minimal routing (L. Gravano et al., 1994) by more than 40%. GOAL also preserves locality to provide up to 4.6* the throughput of fully randomized routing (L. G. Valiant, 1982) on local traffic. GOAL achieves global load balance by randomly choosing the direction to route in each dimension. Local load balance is then achieved by routing in the selected directions adaptively. We compare the throughput, latency, stability and hot spot performance of GOAL to six previously published routing algorithms on six specific traffic patterns and 1000 randomly generated permutations.
Human CD4+ T-Cells: A Role for Low-Affinity Fc Receptors (2016)

Both lymphoid and myeloid cells express Fc receptors (FcRs). Low-affinity FcRs engage circulating immune complexes, which results in the cellular activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine production. FcRs participate in the internalization, transport, and/or recycling of antibodies and antigens. Cytosolic FcRs also route these proteins to proteasomes and antigen-presentation pathways. Non-activated CD4(+) T-cells do not express FcRs. Once activated, naive CD4(+) T-cells express FcγRIIIa, which, upon IC ligation, provide a costimulatory signal for the differentiation of these cells into effector cell population. FcγRIIIa present on CD4(+) T-cell membrane could internalize nucleic acid-containing ICs and elicit a cross-talk with toll-like receptors. FcγRIIIa common γ-chain forms a heterodimer with the ζ-chain of T-cell receptor complex, suggesting a synergistic role for these receptors. This review first summarizes our current understanding of FcRs on CD4(+) T-cells. Thereafter, I will attempt to correlate the findings from the recent literature on FcRs and propose a role for these receptors in modulating adaptive immune responses via TLR signaling, nucleic acid sensing, and epigenetic changes in CD4(+) T-cells.
Angiotensin II Decreases the Renal MRI Blood Oxygenation Level–Dependent Signal (2006)

Acute experimental reduction of renal blood flow decreases the renal blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI signal in animals. Angiotensin II also reduces renal blood flow, but the ability of BOLD MRI to dynamically detect this response has not yet been investigated in humans. Six healthy male volunteers underwent an individual dose-finding study to identify the intravenous doses of angiotensin II, norepinephrine, and sodium nitroprusside necessary to induce a 15-mm Hg peak mean arterial blood pressure change. MRI studies followed within 3 weeks, when angiotensin II (8.8+/-1.4 ng/kg), norepinephrine (52+/-12 ng/kg), and sodium nitroprusside (2.0+/-0.3 microg/kg) were given twice in an unblocked, randomized sequence while imaging experiments were performed on a 1.5-T Siemens Sonata. A multiecho echo-planar imaging sequence was used to acquire T2* maps with a temporal resolution of 1 respiratory cycle. Averaged over a renal cortex dominated region of interest, angiotensin II caused a shortening of T2* between 6% and 10%. Sodium nitroprusside and norepinephrine, although of equal potency concerning blood pressure responses, did not alter the renal BOLD signal. The renal BOLD response to angiotensin II appeared with short onset latency (as early as 10 seconds after peripheral intravenous angiotensin II bolus administration) suggesting that this response is a consequence of altered perfusion rather than increased renal oxygen consumption. The methods described here are suitable to assess renal responsiveness to angiotensin II and may, thus, be of great value in human hypertension research.
The formation of microbial exoskeletons is driven by a controlled calcium-concentrating subcellular niche (2020)

Abstract In nature, bacteria reside in biofilms - multicellular differentiated communities held together by extracellular matrix. In this work, we identified a novel subpopulation essential for biofilm formation – mineral-forming cells. This subpopulation contains an intracellular calcium-accumulating niche, in which the formation of a calcium carbonate mineral is initiated. As the biofilm colony develops, this mineral grows in a controlled manner, forming a functional macrostructure that serves the entire community. The molecular mechanisms promoting calcite scaffold formation were conserved between three distant phyla – the Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis , Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the actinobacterium Mycobacterium abscessus . Biofilm development of all three species was similarly impaired by inhibition of calcium uptake and carbonate accumulation. Moreover, chemical inhibition and mutations targeting mineralization both significantly reduced the attachment of P. aeruginosa to the lung, as well as the subsequent damage inflicted by biofilms to lung tissues, and restored their sensitivity to antibiotics. The evolutionary conserved cellular pathway controlling the fundamental feature of biofilm development uncovered in this work offers novel druggable targets for antibiotics to combat otherwise untreatable biofilm infections.
Identification of ATP citrate lyase as a positive regulator of glycolytic function in glioblastomas (2009)

Glioblastomas, the most malignant type of glioma, are more glycolytic than normal brain tissue. Robust migration of glioblastoma cells has been previously demonstrated under glycolytic conditions and their pseudopodia contain increased glycolytic and decreased mitochondrial enzymes. Glycolysis is suppressed by metabolic acids, including citric acid which is excluded from mitochondria during hypoxia. We postulated that glioma cells maintain glycolysis by regulating metabolic acids, especially in their pseudopodia. The enzyme that breaks down cytosolic citric acid is ATP citrate lyase (ACLY). Our identification of increased ACLY in pseudopodia of U87 glioblastoma cells on 1D gels and immunoblots prompted investigation of ACLY gene expression in gliomas for survival data and correlation with expression of ENO1, that encodes enolase 1. Queries of the NIH's REMBRANDT brain tumor database based on Affymetrix data indicated that decreased survival correlated with increased gene expression of ACLY in gliomas. Queries of gliomas and glioblastomas found an association of upregulated ACLY and ENO1 expression by chi square for all probe sets (reporters) combined and correlation for numbers of probe sets indicating shared upregulation of these genes. Real-time quantitative PCR confirmed correlation between ACLY and ENO1 in 21 glioblastomas (p < 0.001). Inhibition of ACLY with hydroxycitrate suppressed (p < 0.05) in vitro glioblastoma cell migration, clonogenicity and brain invasion under glycolytic conditions and enhanced the suppressive effects of a Met inhibitor on cell migration. In summary, gene expression data, proteomics and functional assays support ACLY as a positive regulator of glycolysis in glioblastomas.
Susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus growing on fibronectin-coated surfaces to bactericidal antibiotics (1993)

Several recent studies have shown that bacteria either grown in vitro as adherent biofilms or recovered from infected prosthetic devices have decreased susceptibilities to antimicrobial killing. To further study the microbial and environmental factors responsible for this decreased antibiotic susceptibility, we developed an in vitro model of surface-adherent Staphylococcus aureus growing on polymethylmethacrylate coverslips coated with pure fibronectin. After exponential growth for 4 h, the population of fibronectin-attached S. aureus remained constant for a further 48-h period, as evaluated by CFU counts of organisms quantitatively removed from the coverslips. At selected time points, surface-bound organisms were exposed to bactericidal concentrations of either oxacillin, vancomycin, fleroxacin, or gentamicin in short-term (0.5 to 2 h) or long-term (24 h) killing assays. Whereas at 2 h surface-growing organisms were still optimally killed by all antimicrobial agents, at 4 and 24 h attached bacteria expressed markedly altered susceptibilities to these agents. The decrease in susceptibility was moderate for fleroxacin, more important for oxacillin and vancomycin, and extensive for gentamicin. When surface-attached S. aureus was compared with bacteria grown in a fluid phase, both populations showed a parallel time-dependent decrease in their susceptibilities to either oxacillin, vancomycin, or fleroxacin. In contrast, attached organisms became considerably more resistance to gentamicin than suspended bacteria did. Subpopulations of organisms spontaneously released from coverslips during antibiotic exposure also showed markedly reduced susceptibilities to antimicrobial killing. This simple model of S. aureus colonization of in vitro fibronectin-coated surfaces might represent a useful approach to the study of the physiological and biochemical changes that underlie the decreased antibiotic susceptibilities of biomaterial-attached organisms.
Pre- and Postsynaptic Activation of M-Channels By a Novel Opener Dampens Neuronal Firing and Transmitter Release (2006)

The M-type K(+) current (M-current), encoded by Kv7.2/3 (KCNQ2/3) K(+) channels, plays a critical role in regulating neuronal excitability because it counteracts subthreshold depolarizations. Here we have characterized the functions of pre- and postsynaptic M-channels using a novel Kv7.2/3 channel opener, NH6, which we synthesized as a new derivative of N-phenylanthranilic acid. NH6 exhibits a good selectivity as it does not affect Kv7.1 and I(KS) K(+) currents as well as NR1/NR2B, AMPA, and GABA(A) receptor-mediated currents. Superfusion of NH6 increased recombinant Kv7.2/3 current amplitude (EC(50) = 18 muM) by causing a hyperpolarizing shift of the voltage activation curve and by markedly slowing the deactivation kinetics. Activation of native M-currents by NH6 robustly reduced the number of evoked and spontaneous action potentials in cultured cortical, hippocampal and dorsal root ganglion neurons. In hippocampal slices, NH6 decreased somatically evoked spike after depolarization of CA1 pyramidal neurons and induced regular firing in bursting neurons. Activation of M-channels by NH6, potently reduced the frequency of spontaneous excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents. Activation of M-channels also decreased the frequency of miniature excitatory (mEPSC) and inhibitory (mIPSC) postsynaptic currents without affecting their amplitude and waveform, thus suggesting that M-channels presynaptically inhibit glutamate and GABA release. Our results suggest a role of presynaptic M-channels in the release of glutamate and GABA. They also indicate that M-channels act pre- and postsynaptically to dampen neuronal excitability.
Sodium Hydroxide Production from Seawater Desalination Brine: Process Design and Energy Efficiency (2018)

The ability to increase pH is a crucial need for desalination pretreatment (especially in reverse osmosis) and for other industries, but processes used to raise pH often incur significant emissions and nonrenewable resource use. Alternatively, waste brine from desalination can be used to create sodium hydroxide, via appropriate concentration and purification pretreatment steps, for input into the chlor-alkali process. In this work, an efficient process train (with variations) is developed and modeled for sodium hydroxide production from seawater desalination brine using membrane chlor-alkali electrolysis. The integrated system includes nanofiltration, concentration via evaporation or mechanical vapor compression, chemical softening, further ion-exchange softening, dechlorination, and membrane electrolysis. System productivity, component performance, and energy consumption of the NaOH production process are highlighted, and their dependencies on electrolyzer outlet conditions and brine recirculation are investigated. The analysis of the process also includes assessment of the energy efficiency of major components, estimation of system operating expense and comparison with similar processes. The brine-to-caustic process is shown to be technically feasible while offering several advantages, that is, the reduced environmental impact of desalination through lessened brine discharge, and the increase in the overall water recovery ratio of the reverse osmosis facility. Additionally, best-use conditions are given for producing caustic not only for use within the plant, but also in excess amounts for potential revenue.
New switched-capacitor DC-DC converter with low input current ripple and its hybridization (2002)

A switched-capacitor (SC) DC-DC converter is developed to reduce the input current ripple and to achieve miniaturization. A fixed-capacitor added to an original SC reduces the input current ripple. This converter is miniaturized by a copper thick-film hybrid technique. The features of this converter are as follows: (1) low input current ripple (one third compared with that of original SC DC-DC converters), (2) very high efficiency (90%), and (3) very high power density (23 W/in/sup 3/ in the 10 W class).< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>
Energy-adaptive scheduling and queue management in wireless LAN mesh networks (2010)

Energy efficiency is of critical importance in future wireless communication systems where networked low-power devices relying on batteries should be able to communicate transparently. We present a novel cross-layer energy-adaptive scheduling and queue management framework EAED (Energy Aware Early D