gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Maspin expression inhibits osteolysis, tumor growth, and angiogenesis in a model of prostate cancer bone metastasis (2003)

Emerging evidence indicates that tumor-associated proteolytic remodeling of bone matrix may underlie the capacity of tumor cells to colonize and survive in the bone microenvironment. Of particular importance, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) has been shown to correlate with human prostate cancer (PC) metastasis. The importance of this protease may be related to its ability to initiate a proteolytic cascade, leading to the activation of multiple proteases and growth factors. Previously, we showed that maspin, a serine protease inhibitor, specifically inhibits PC-associated uPA and PC cell invasion and motility in vitro. In this article, we showed that maspin-expressing transfectant cells derived from PC cell line DU145 were inhibited in in vitro extracellular matrix and collagen degradation assays. To test the effect of tumor-associated maspin on PC-induced bone matrix remodeling and tumor growth, we injected the maspin-transfected DU145 cells into human fetal bone fragments, which were previously implanted in immunodeficient mice. These studies showed that maspin expression decreased tumor growth, reduced osteolysis, and decreased angiogenesis. Furthermore, the maspin-expressing tumors contained significant fibrosis and collagen staining, and exhibited a more glandular organization. These data represent evidence that maspin inhibits PC-induced bone matrix remodeling and induces PC glandular redifferentiation. These results support our current working hypothesis that maspin exerts its tumor suppressive role, at least in part, by blocking the pericellular uPA system and suggest that maspin may offer an opportunity to improve therapeutic intervention of bone metastasis.
Giant photoluminescence enhancement in deuterated highly strained InAs/GaAs quantum wells (1994)

The photoluminescence of InAs/GaAs pseudomorphic single quantum wells, of width 1, 1.2, and 1.6 monolayers, is studied before and after diffusion of monoatomic deuterium into the samples. The luminescence shows a red shift for increasing nominal well width, suggesting an interface roughness on a scale much smaller than the exciton size. The luminescence efficiency increases by several orders of magnitude after sample deuteration. A discussion about the origin of radiative recombination in these heterostructures, before and after deuteration, is also given.
Production of specific-structured triacylglycerols by lipase-catalyzed reactions: a review (2000)

Regiospecificity is one of the major advantages of using lipase technology for the modification of oils and fats to produce high-value added products, such as cocoa butter equivalents, human milk fat substitutes, and other specific-structured lipids. Due to the high cost of biocatalysts, the mainstream applications of lipases for normal oils and fats are still limited. Therefore, positional specificity of lipases has the priority and will be the target property to be exploited for commercial and industrial developments, because no chemical method has such a specificity and is promising or possible for this task. In this paper, encouraging products resulting from this regiospecificity are reviewed together with the critical evaluation of their reaction schemes, side reactions and by-products, sources of substrate oils and acyl donors, and production processes.
A review of power converter topologies for wind generators (2005)

Wind energy conversion systems have become a focal point in the research of renewable energy sources. This is in no small part due to the rapid advances in the size of wind generators as well as the development of power electronics and their applicability in wind energy extraction. This paper provides a comprehensive review of past and present converter topologies applicable to permanent magnet generators, induction generators, synchronous generators and doubly fed induction generators. The many different generator-converter combinations are compared on the basis of topology, cost, efficiency, power consumption and control complexity. The features of each generator-converter configuration are considered in the context of wind turbine systems
Role of regulatory T cells in gastrointestinal inflammatory disease (2008)

Regulatory T cells curb unwanted immune responses and regulate responses to microflora and it is now clear that regulatory T cells play an important role in a number of chronic inflammatory diseases of the gut. First, regulatory T cells are crucial in controlling immune responses to gastric autoantigens and thus preventing autoimmune gastritis and pernicious anemia. Second, regulatory T cells may modulate the response to Helicobacter pylori, thus affecting the ability of the immune system to clear the pathogen and mediate damage to the gastric mucosa. Finally, regulatory T cells play an important role in preventing damaging inflammatory responses to commensal organisms in the lower gut, thus guarding against inflammatory bowel diseases. In the present review, we examine the actions of regulatory T cells in the gut and conclude that further understanding of regulatory T cell biology may lead to new therapeutic approaches to chronic gastrointestinal disease.
Prevention and treatment of renal allograft rejection (1993)

Renal transplantation is the preferred treatment modality for patients with ESRD who are good surgical risks and able to comply with chronic immunosuppressive medications. Clinical transplantation has advanced significantly, with most transplant centers reporting 1-yr renal allograft survival rates of better than 80%. Nevertheless, rejection and a progressive loss of allografts over time continue to occur. The immunosuppressive agents currently used may lead to the development of life-threatening infections, malignancies, and advanced atherosclerosis as a consequence of some of their side effects. This review examines the mechanisms involved in allograft rejection as currently understood. The recent knowledge into the mechanism of action of cyclosporine, FK506, and rapamycin on T cell activation is presented. Information recently available on some of the established therapies such as steroids, antimetabolites and monoclonal antibodies as well as the newer agents is also discussed. The interaction between clinical transplantation and basic research in immunology continues to result in exciting advances in both fields.
Activation of plasminogen by pro-urokinase. I. Mechanism. (1986)

The mechanism of the activation of plasminogen by recombinant pro-urokinase (Rec-pro-UK), obtained by expression of the human pro-urokinase gene in Escherichia coli, was investigated in purified systems. In mixtures of Rec-pro-UK and plasminogen, both active urokinase and plasmin are quickly generated. Addition of plasmin inhibitors (aprotinin or alpha 2-antiplasmin) abolishes the conversion of Rec-pro-UK to urokinase but not the activation of plasminogen to plasmin, suggesting that Rec-pro-UK activates plasminogen directly. Human plasma competitively inhibits the activation of plasminogen by pro-urokinase with a Ki of 0.2% (v/v). This explains the relative stability of Rec-pro-UK in plasma and the lack of activation of the plasma fibrinolytic system in the absence of fibrin. The competitive inhibition by plasma is abolished by the addition of CNBr-digested fibrinogen although Rec-pro-UK has no specific affinity for fibrin. These findings suggest that the fibrin specificity of the activation of plasminogen by pro-urokinase is due to neutralization by fibrin of the competitive inhibition exerted by plasma and not to fibrin-enhanced activation of plasminogen.
Synthesis and Pairing Properties of Decanucleotides from (3′<i>S</i>,5′<i>R</i>)‐2′‐Deoxy‐3′, 5′‐ethanoβ‐<scp>D</scp>‐ribofuranosyladenine and ‐thymine (1993)

A lower change in entropy upon duplex formation and a higher propensity for the triplex formation with complementary natural DNA, together with a higher resistance to degradation by phosphodiesterases are the main characteristics of the novel DNA analogues 1 and 2. The concept of reducing pairing entropy by reducing the conformational flexibility of an oligonucleotide single strand (preorganization) may be useful in “antisense” research.
Comparison of Lipid-Mediated and Adenoviral Gene Transfer in Human Monocyte-Derived Macrophages and COS-7 Cells (2000)

Lipid-mediated transfection was compared to adenoviral-mediated gene transfer in COS-7 cells as well as human monocyte-derived macrophages (HMDM). For this purpose, we monitored enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) expression by fluorescence microscopy and quantified gene transfer by competitive PCR. Transfection of COS-7 cells with a novel lipid formulation for DNA transfer was highly effective in COS-7 cells. On average, 30% of the cells were fluorescent 48 h after transfection. In HMDM, the same formulation resulted in the expression of EGFP in less than 0.5% of cells. We measured plasmid DNA by quantitative PCR in lipid-transfected macrophages and found that each macrophage contained on average 2 fg of plasmid DNA 24 h after transfection, that is, more than 400 molecules of plasmid DNA entered each cell. Despite the high level of reporter DNA in lipid transfected cells, expression of the fluorescent protein was suppressed in more than 99.5% of the macrophages. We also used adenoviral gene transfer to introduce the foreign DNA into both COS-7 cells and HMDM. Even though the multiplicity of infection was less than 30, expression of EGFP was observed in nearly all COS-7 cells and in more than 80% of HMDM 48 h after transfection. Despite major advances in the field of lipid-mediated transfection of HMDM, the lipid formulations that are available commercially cannot compete with the efficiency of adenoviral gene transfer.
Determination of phase centers of ultra-wideband antennas (2010)

The importance of ultra-wideband (UWB) localization and sensing is growing from day to day, due to continuing improvements in sensitivity and resolution. In the past, the most important system parameters to be optimized concerned predominantly the electronic components. Nowadays, the antenna characteristics tend to limit further improvements. This aspect is worth a thorough inspection of antenna parameters both in the frequency and time domains, e.g., in terms of phase centers. This paper summarizes some fundamental aspects and suitable algorithms as well as measured characteristics of ultra-wideband double-ridged horn antennas, which are intended for use in biomedical radar applications. The limitations of this approach and the relevance of an accurate determination of phase centers are discussed.
ChemInform Abstract: A Tandem Horner‐Emmons Olefination‐Conjugate Addition Approach to the Synthesis of 1,5‐Disubstituted 6‐Azabicyclo(3.2.1)octanes Based on the AE Ring Structure of the Norditerpenoid Alkaloid Methyllycaconitine. (1996)

Abstract ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.
Inhibition of vesicular stomatitis virus infection in epithelial cells by alpha interferon-induced soluble secreted proteins (2006)

Interferons (IFNs) are potent antiviral cytokines that inhibit infection by a wide spectrum of viruses by activating the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway. Several IFN-induced antiviral proteins including 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase, dsRNA-activated protein kinase and Mx play a critical role in conferring the antiviral properties of IFN. However, studies have shown that additional antiviral factors are involved in addition to these proteins during IFN-mediated antiviral action. In an effort to characterize these novel antiviral factors, the antiviral mechanism of alpha IFN (IFN-alpha) against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) was investigated in human lung epithelial A549 cells. These studies demonstrated that soluble secreted antiviral proteins as the constituents of conditioned medium prepared from IFN-alpha-treated cells reduced VSV infectivity by more than 2 logs, compared with a 4 log inhibition observed following treatment of cells with IFN-alpha. The antiviral mechanism of these secreted proteins appeared to act at the level of cellular entry of VSV. Interestingly, the IFN-alpha-induced antiviral proteins were secreted independently of STAT1 (an essential component of the JAK/STAT pathway), demonstrating that the release of such extracellular soluble antiviral proteins from cells may represent an alternative mechanism of the antiviral defence strategy of IFN towards VSV infection.
Voltage‐gated Sodium Channels in Epilepsy (2002)

Animal experiments, and particularly functional investigations on human chronically epileptic tissue as well as genetic studies in epilepsy patients and their families strongly suggest that some forms of epilepsy may share a pathogenetic mechanism: an alteration of voltage-gated sodium channels. This review summarizes recent data on changes of sodium channel expression, molecular structure and function associated with epilepsy, as well as on the interaction of new and established antiepileptic drugs with sodium currents. Although it remains to be determined precisely how and to what extent altered sodium-channel functions play a role in different epilepsy syndromes, future promising therapy approaches may include drugs modulating sodium currents, and particularly substances changing their inactivation characteristics.
Voronoi diagram for multiply-connected polygonal domains I: Algorithm (1987)

Voronoi diagrams of multiply-connected polygonal domains (polygons with holes) can be of use in computer-aided design. We describe a simple algorithm that computes such Voronoi diagrams in O(N(log <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> N+H)) time, where N is the number of edges and H is the number of holes.
An efficient approach to forensic investigation in cloud using VM snapshots (2015)

Cloud computing has recently emerged as a technology to allow users to access infrastructure, storage, software and deployment environment based on a pay-for-what-they-use model. Traditional digital forensics cannot handle the dynamic and multi-tenant nature of the cloud environment as it has to address various technical, legal, and organizational challenges typical to the cloud systems. The dynamic nature of cloud computing allows abundant opportunities to enable digital investigations in the cloud environment. This paper addresses the challenges of digital forensics in the cloud environment and existing solutions to ease some of the challenges. We propose an efficient approach to forensic investigation in cloud using Virtual Machine (VM) snapshots.
DBMask: Fine-Grained Access Control on Encrypted Relational Databases (2016)

DBMask is a system that implements encrypted query processing with support for complex queries and fine grained access control with create, update, delete and cryptographically enforced read (CRUD) operations for data stored on an untrusted database server hosted in a public cloud. Past research efforts have not adequately addressed flexible access control on encrypted data at different granularity levels which is critical for data sharing among different users and applications. DBMask proposes a novel technique that separates fine grained access control from encrypted query processing when evaluating SQL queries on encrypted data and enforces fine grained access control at the granularity level of a column, row and cell based on an expressive attribute-based group key encryption scheme. DBMask does not require modifications to the database engine, and thus maximizes the reuse of the existing DBMS infrastructures. Our experiments evaluate the performance of an encrypted database, managed by DBMask, using queries from TPC-H benchmark in comparison to plaintext Postgres. We further evaluate the functionality of our prototype using a policy simulator and a multi-user web application. The results show that DBMask is efficient and scalable to large datasets.
Transcription factor dynamics and neuroendocrine signalling in the mouse pineal gland: a comparative analysis of melatonin‐deficient C57BL mice and melatonin‐proficient C3H mice (2000)

In rodents, the nocturnal rise and fall of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) activity controls the rhythmic synthesis of melatonin, the hormone of the pineal gland. This rhythm involves the transcriptional regulation of the AANAT by two norepinephrine (NE)-inducible transcription factors, e.g. the activator pCREB (phosphorylated Ca2+/cAMP-response element binding protein) and the inhibitor ICER (inducible cAMP early repressor). Most inbred mouse strains do not produce melatonin under standard laboratory light/dark conditions. As melatonin-deficient mice are often the founders for transgenic animals used for chronobiological experimentations, molecular components of neuroendocrine signalling in the pineal gland as an integral part of clock entrainment mechanisms have to be deciphered. We therefore compared calcium signalling, transcriptional events and melatonin synthesis in the melatonin-deficient C57BL mouse and the melatonin-proficient C3H mouse. Pineal glands and primary pinealocytes were cultured and stimulated with NE or were collected at various times of the light/dark (LD) cycle. Changes in intracellular calcium concentrations, the phosphorylation of CREB, and ICER protein levels follow similar dynamics in the pineal glands of both mouse strains. pCREB levels are high during the early night and ICER protein shows elevated levels during the late night. In the C57BL pineal gland, a low but significant increase in melatonin synthesis could be observed upon NE stimulation, and, notably, also when animals were exposed to long nights. We conclude that the commonly used C57BL mouse is not completely melatonin-deficient and that this melatonin-deficiency does not affect molecular details involved in regulating transcriptional events of melatonin synthesis.
Antibody‐Mediated Regulation of the Immune Response (2006)

Antibodies administered in vivo together with the antigen they are specific for can regulate the immune response to that antigen. This phenomenon is called antibody-mediated feedback regulation and has been known for over 100 years. Both passively administered and actively produced antibodies exert immunoregulatory functions. Feedback regulation can be either positive or negative, resulting in >1000-fold enhancement or >99% suppression of the specific antibody response. Usually, the response to the entire antigen is up- or downregulated, regardless of which epitope the regulating antibody recognizes. IgG of all isotypes can suppress responses to large particulate antigens like erythrocytes, a phenomenon used clinically in Rhesus prophylaxis. IgG suppression works in mice lacking the known Fc-gamma receptors (FcgammaR) and a likely mechanism of action is epitope masking. IgG1, IgG2a and IgG2b administered together with soluble protein antigens will enhance antibody and CD4+ T-cell responses via activating FcgammaR, probably via increased antigen presentation by dendritic cells. IgG3 as well as IgM also enhance antibody responses but their effects are dependent on their ability to activate complement. A possible mechanism is increased B-cell activation caused by immune complexes co-crosslinking the B-cell receptor with the complement-receptor 2/CD19 receptor complex, known to lower the threshold for B-cell activation. IgE-antibodies enhance antibody and CD4+ T-cell responses to small soluble proteins. This effect is entirely dependent on the low-affinity receptor for IgE, CD23, the mechanism probably being increased antigen presentation by CD23+ B cells.
DNA elements with AT-rich core sequences direct pituitary cell-specific expression of the pro-opiomelanocortin gene in transgenic mice (1995)

Corticotrophs are the first fully differentiated cells to appear in the anterior pituitary during organogenesis and are distinguished by pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene expression. Earlier studies in our laboratory defined three DNA regions (sites 1, 2 and 3) within promoter sequences at the 5'-end of the rat POMC gene (-323/-34) that cooperatively targeted cell-specific gene expression to corticotrophs and melanotrophs in transgenic mice. In this study we analysed the DNA-nuclear protein interactions underlying this functional activity. We demonstrated that the transcriptional activator SP1 interacts with GC-rich regions in sites 1 (-146/-136) and 2 (-201/-192) and an unidentified protein, which we call PP1 (putative pituitary POMC1), interacts with AT-rich regions in sites 2 (-202/-193) and 3 (-262/-253). The PP1-binding activity appears to be specific to cells that express the POMC gene because it was detected in nuclear extracts prepared from AtT20 corticotroph cells and mouse melanotroph tumours but not from GH4 pituitary tumour cells, HeLa cells or liver. Site-directed mutagenesis of core binding sequences demonstrated that PP1 is required for the correct cell-specific expression of the POMC gene in the pituitary gland of transgenic mice and SP1 appears to support such an expression. The best core binding sequence for PP1 is TAAT, a possible transcription factor homeodomain contact site. However, PP1 is distinct from Brn 3.0, a POU protein that also binds to site 3. We conclude that PP1 is a transcriptional activator for pituitary-specific POMC gene expression.
Maintenance of Skeletal Muscle Intracellular Glutamine during Standard Surgical Trauma (1985)

Skeletal muscle glutamine (GLN) concentration falls following injury and infection. In an attempt to prevent this decline and to characterize its influence on the efflux of amino acid (AA) from skeletal muscle, we administered varying quantities of AA (0,2, and 4 g/kg X day) as saline or AA solutions with or without GLN enrichment to 22 postoperative dogs. Plasma and muscle AA were determined before and 24 hr after standard laparotomy. Hindquarter AA efflux was measured at 6 and 24 hr. Skeletal muscle nitrogen declined in saline controls (69.8 +/- 8.5 vs 52.8 +/- 8.4 mmol/liter; p less than 0.01), largely due to the fall in intracellular GLN (21.48 +/- 3.21 vs 15.86 +/- 3.80; p less than 0.05). Similar alterations were seen in the animals receiving 2 g/kg. However, both intracellular nitrogen and GLN were maintained in animals receiving 4 g/kg, whether the AA solutions contained GLN or not (skeletal muscle nitrogen before 64.3 +/- 8.6 mmol/l vs 65.4 +/- 7.0 after, GLN 19.2 +/- 3.4 vs 19.9 +/- 3.0). Hindquarter AA efflux was reduced in those animals at 6 hr compared with saline-treated animals (-6.52 +/- 1.8 and -7.70 +/- 5.90 vs -19.05 +/- 4.06 mumol/kg X min; p less than 0.05). Intracellular GLN can be maintained during operative stress with adequate nitrogen infusion. Replacing 50% of the balanced AA solution with GLN resulted in equally effective maintenance of intracellular GLN levels and a comparable reduction in skeletal muscle AA efflux. Preservation of normal intracellular GLN levels with adequate AA nutrition may be essential for the conservation of muscle protein.