gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Application of visual tracking for robot‐assisted laparoscopic surgery (2002)

Abstract With the increasing popularity of laparoscopic surgery, the demand for better modes of laparoscopic surgery also increases. The current laparoscopic surgery mode requires an assistant to hold and manipulate the endoscope through commands from the surgeon. However, during lengthy surgery procedures, accurate and on‐time adjustment of the camera cannot be guaranteed due to the fatigue and hand trembling of the camera assistant. This article proposes a practical visual tracking method to achieve automated instrument localization and endoscope maneuvering in robot‐assisted laparoscopic surgery. Solutions concerning this approach, such as, endoscope calibration, marker design, distortion correction, and endoscope manipulator design are described in detail. Experimental results are presented to show the feasibility of the proposed method. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Adenosine Generation and Signaling during Acute Kidney Injury (2011)

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Particularly in the perioperative period, the most common cause of AKI is renal ischemia. At present, therapeutic modalities to prevent or treat AKI are extremely limited and the search for novel therapeutic interventions for ischemic AKI is an area of intense investigation. Recent studies implicate the endogenous signaling molecule, adenosine, in kidney protection from ischemia. As such, enzymatic production of adenosine from its precursor molecules ATP and AMP, and signaling events through adenosine receptors, play a critical role in attenuating renal inflammation and preserving kidney function during episodes of renal ischemia. Utilizing genetic mouse models with defects in adenosine generation or signaling provide strong evidence for the key role of extracellular adenosine in adapting renal tissues to limited oxygen availability and attenuating hypoxia-driven inflammation of the kidneys. Moreover, experimental therapeutics targeting individual adenosine receptors demonstrate strong prophylactic or therapeutic effects during murine AKI. If these experimental strategies can be translated into a clinical setting, adenosine receptor therapeutics may become an integral part in the prevention or treatment of AKI from renal ischemia.
Labeled Faces in the Wild: A Database forStudying Face Recognition in Unconstrained Environments (2008)

International audience
Modeling Simultaneous Shrinkage and Heat and Mass Transfer of a Thin, Nonporous Film During Drying (1995)

ABSTRACT Thin films of food products have long been dried commercially but the thin film drying process is not well understood. Modeling of a drying system is essential for understanding and improving it. A theoretical model for predicting the drying rate of thin films of nonporous foods was proposed, developed and evaluated. The model simultaneously considered shrinkage and heat and mass transfer within thin films dried on a surface with given boundary conditions. A finite element formulation of the model was used to develop numerical solutions of two governing equations. Starch was selected as a representative material for drying tests. Experimentally determined drying curves of modified corn, potato and rice starch films were compared to model predictions. The technique was useful in explaining the complex relationships of temperature, moisture and thickness profiles of drying films.
Risks From Natural Versus Synthetic Insecticides (1994)

For centuries humans have used natural insecticides to combat insect pests that compete for our food and fiber or that affect public health. Some of these compounds were plant extracts or plant parts, others were mined from the earth. In the twentieth century synthetic insecticides have replaced natural ones as the standard means of controlling detrimental insects, ticks, and mites. Although early natural insecticides such as arsenicals and nicotine carried with them acknowledged risks, a populace that often faced hunger and vector-borne diseases was willing to tolerate a degree of risk to realize the benefits of the chemicals being used. Synthetic insecticides brought a new order of insect control, but also a new collage of risks. As people became more comfortable in the developed areas of the world, threats of starvation, arthropod-vectored diseases, or loss of clothing and shelter often became minor concerns. The quality of our food supply and the economics of production now govern the majority of pest and pesticide approaches, products, and methodologies. At the same time, new questions have arisen regarding environmental quality, especially contamination of water, air, and soil by a host of chemicals, some of which are pesticides ' or their degradation products. Our present society can afford to discuss long-term health implications of agents used to control insect pests. Many new and difficult questions have emerged about health and environmental nsks, giving rise to a distinct area of study called risk assessment. One of the most challenging questions
Chloride Removal from Recycled Cooling Water Using Ultra‐High Lime with Aluminum Process (2002)

Chloride is a deleterious ionic species in cooling water systems because it promotes corrosion, and most of the scale and corrosion inhibitors are sensitive to chloride concentration in the water. Chloride can be removed from cooling water by precipitation as calcium chloroaluminate [Ca4Al2Cl2(OH)12]. A set of equilibrium experiments and one kinetic experiment were conducted to evaluate chloride removal using the ultra-high lime with aluminum (UHLA) process and to characterize the equilibrium conditions of calcium chloroaluminate precipitation. A total of 48 batch-equilibrium experiments were conducted on a 30 mM NaCl solution over a range of values for lime dose (0 to 200 mM) and sodium aluminate dose (0 to 100 mM). Experimental results showed that the UHLA process can remove chloride and that the formation of a calcium chloroaluminate solid phase is a reasonable mechanism that is able to adequately describe experimental results. An average value of the ion activity product of 10(-94.75) was obtained and can be used as an estimate of the solubility product for Ca4Al2Cl2(OH)12.
Structural determinants for recognition and translocation by the anandamide transporter (1999)

The biological actions of anandamide (arachidonylethanolamide), an endogenous cannabinoid lipid, are terminated by a two-step inactivation process consisting of carrier-mediated uptake and intracellular hydrolysis. Anandamide uptake in neurons and astrocytes is mediated by a high-affinity, Na+-independent transporter that is selectively inhibited by N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-arachidonamide (AM404). In the present study, we examined the structural determinants governing recognition and translocation of substrates by the anandamide transporter constitutively expressed in a human astrocytoma cell line. Competition experiments with a select group of analogs suggest that substrate recognition by the transporter is favored by a polar nonionizable head group of defined stereochemical configuration containing a hydroxyl moiety at its distal end. The secondary carboxamide group interacts favorably with the transporter, but may be replaced with either a tertiary amide or an ester, suggesting that it may serve as hydrogen acceptor. Thus, 2-arachidonylglycerol, a putative endogenous cannabinoid ester, also may serve as a substrate for the transporter. Substrate recognition requires the presence of at least one cis double bond situated at the middle of the fatty acid carbon chain, indicating a preference for ligands whose hydrophobic tail can adopt a bent U-shaped conformation. On the other hand, uptake experiments with radioactively labeled substrates show that no fewer than four cis nonconjugated double bonds are required for optimal translocation across the cell membrane, suggesting that substrates are transported in a folded hairpin conformation. These results outline the general structural requisites for anandamide transport and may assist in the development of selective inhibitors with potential clinical applications.
HDAC6 at the Intersection of Autophagy, the Ubiquitin-proteasome System, and Neurodegeneration (2007)

The two major intracellular catabolic pathways, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and macroautophagy (autophagy), have each been implicated as playing roles in neurodegenerative proteinopathies. We have investigated the relationship between the UPS and autophagy using Drosophila models of neurodegenerative diseases. We identified histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) as a genetic modifier of polyglutamine-induced neurodegeneration and determined that its mechanism of action is autophagy-dependent. The ability of HDAC6 to suppress degeneration has been extended to additional neurodegenerative disease models, including a fly model expressing pathological Abeta fragments, presented here, but is not a universal modifier of degenerative phenotypes. Importantly, HDAC6 was also found to suppress degeneration associated with proteasome mutations in an autophagy-dependent manner, revealing a compensatory relationship between these two degradation pathways. Our findings indicate that HDAC6 facilitates degradation of potentially noxious protein substrates, contributing vitally to the neuroprotective role of autophagy.
Early treatment of acute hepatitis C infection may be highly effective (2001)

A study published online in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that prompt treatment with interferon in those acutely infected with hepatitis C virus prevented chronic infection in almost all (98%) patients (1). In this landmark study, 44 patients with acute hepatitis C were given 5 mU of interferon alfa-2b for four weeks daily, and then three times a week for another 20 weeks.
Ayahuasca y salud (1992)

The toxicity in rats and mice and the responses of 5 rat lung tumours, a rat rhabdomyosarcoma and a mouse colon tumour to flavone acetic acid, FAA, were studied. The LD50 values of FAA in WAG/Rij and BN rats were about 350 and 525 mg/kg respectively, independent of whether the animals were tumour bearing or not. In contrast, the LD50 value of tumour bearing BCBA mice was 50 percent of that of non-tumour bearing mice. Neither tumour volume regression nor growth delay were observed in the rat tumours growing in syngeneic rats or in nude mice, in contrast to the response of colon 38 tumours in mice. Light microscopy revealed massive tumour necrosis in the mouse tumour while no significant changes were observed in the rat tumours.
Numerically stable Green function for modeling and analysis of substrate coupling in integrated circuits (1998)

The Green function over a multilayer substrate is derived by solving Poisson's equation analytically in the coordinate and numerically in the z and y coordinates. The x and y functional dependence is transformed into a discrete cosine transform (DCT) representation for rapid evaluation. The Green function is further transformed into a numerically stable form appropriate for finite-precision machine evaluation. This Green function is used to solve for the impedance matrix for an arbitrary three-dimensional arrangement of conductors placed anywhere in the substrate. Using this technique, the substrate coupling and loss in IC circuits can be analyzed. A spiral inductor is presented as an example. Experimental measurement results verify the accuracy of the technique.
A Steady-State and Picosecond Pump-Probe Investigation of the Photophysics of an Acyl and a Bis(acyl)phosphine Oxide (1997)

The photophysics (2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)diphenylphosphine oxide (1) and bis(2,6-dimethoxybenzoyl)-2,4,4-trimethylpentylphosphine oxide (4) have been investigated by fluorescence, phosphorescence, and low temperature time resolved electron spin resonance. Both 1 and 4 undergo α-cleavage to produce benzoyl and phosphorous centered radicals. The photochemistry of 1 and 4 has been investigated by nanosecond laser flash photolysis, picosecond pump-probe spectroscopy, and steady-state photolysis. The singlet states of 1 and 4 and the phosphorous centered radicals produced by α-cleavage were characterized directly by time resolved absorption spectroscopy. The triplet states of 1 and 4 were characterized indirectly by quenching with 1-phenylnaphthalene as a selective triplet quencher. The use of 1-phenylnaphthalene indicates that α-cleavage occurs mainly from the triplet states of 1 and 4. However, the observed rate of formation of phosphorous centered radicals derived from picosecond investigations is experimentally indistinguishable from the rate of disappearance of the singlet states of 1 and 4. The results are compatible with mechanisms for which the rate of intersystem crossing of the S1 states of 1 and 4 limits the observed rate of α-cleavage, because the rate of α-cleavage is of the same order or faster than the rate of intersystem crossing. This relatively uncommon situation appears to have an analogy in the well investigated photochemistry of dibenzyl ketone.
Tumour cell-derived Wnt7a recruits and activates fibroblasts to promote tumour aggressiveness (2016)

Stromal fibroblast recruitment to tumours and activation to a cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) phenotype has been implicated in promoting primary tumour growth and progression to metastatic disease. However, the mechanisms underlying the tumour:fibroblast crosstalk that drive the intertumoural stromal heterogeneity remain poorly understood. Using in vivo models we identify Wnt7a as a key factor secreted exclusively by aggressive breast tumour cells, which induces CAF conversion. Functionally, this results in extracellular matrix remodelling to create a permissive environment for tumour cell invasion and promotion of distant metastasis. Mechanistically, Wnt7a-mediated fibroblast activation is not dependent on classical Wnt signalling. Instead, we demonstrate that Wnt7a potentiates TGFβ receptor signalling both in 3D in vitro and in vivo models, thus highlighting the interaction between two of the key signalling pathways in development and disease. Importantly, in clinical breast cancer cohorts, tumour cell Wnt7a expression correlates with a desmoplastic, poor-prognosis stroma and poor patient outcome.
Exciton energies as a function of electric field: Confined quantum Stark effect (1993)

We have performed a variational calculation of the exciton binding energy as a function of electric field in a semiconducting quantum-well structure using a three-dimensional (3D) hydrogenic trial wave function and compared our results with earlier calculations in which a 2D hydrogenic trial wave function was used. Our results yield larger exciton binding energies for wide wells and strong electric fields. We find that the crossover between 2D and 3D behavior occurs at a critical well width which is of the order of the exciton Bohr radius in zero field and which decreases with increasing electric field.
Photoreactive coating for high-contrast spatial patterning of microfluidic device wettability (2008)

For many applications in microfluidics, the wettability of the devices must be spatially controlled. We introduce a photoreactive sol-gel coating that enables high-contrast spatial patterning of microfluidic device wettability.
Adenovirus Infections in Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: Recent Developments in Understanding of Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Management (2004)

Adenovirus is increasingly recognized as an important pathogen in stem cell transplant recipients, reflecting increased awareness about the virus, together with changes in transplant practice such as the performance of more high-risk transplants, and improvements in diagnostic methods. In retrospective studies, the reported incidence of adenovirus infections ranged between 4-20% with a similar variation in the proportion of patients developing invasive disease. In contrast, the incidence of adenovirus infection varies between 20-30% in recent prospective studies on T-cell depleted or mismatched allografts and about 30-40% of these patients develop invasive disease. These prospective studies have established a relationship between the risk of invasive adenovirus disease and a number of factors such as the extent of T-cell depletion, the intensity of immunosuppressive therapy and the kinetics of lymphocyte recovery post-transplant. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to detect adenovirus DNA in peripheral blood have shown a strong correlation between viremia and the risk of disseminated adenovirus disease. These developments have led to the possibility of a preemptive antiviral treatment strategy for asymptomatic adenovirus infections. In addition, a better understanding of the interactions between adenovirus and host immune system in the post-transplant setting might enable development of effective immunotherapeutic strategies against adenovirus infections.
Unsupervised urban area extraction from SAR imagery using GMRF (2006)

A new method is proposed to extract urban areas from SAR imagery using two different Gaussian Markov Random Field (GMRF) models. Firstly, by making an initial segmentation by a watershed algorithm, we adopt a particular GMRF model proposed by Descombes et al. (the model is called RGMRF model, distinguished from the conventional GMRF model) to acquire urban areas. In the first model a part of the urban areas from the SAR image is extracted with some missing detection. Then, taking the first result as a training sample, we use the conventional GMRF model to redo the extraction. In the second model a larger area is detected including all urban areas with some false detection. Finally, we fuse the two results using a region-growing algorithm to form the final detected urban area. Experimental results show that the proposed method can obtain accurate urban areas delineation.
Key concepts in glioblastoma therapy (2012)

Glioblastoma is the most common form of primary brain cancer and remains one of the most aggressive forms of human cancer. Current standard of care involves maximal surgical resection followed by concurrent therapy with radiation and the DNA alkylating agent temozolomide. Despite this aggressive regimen, the median survival remains approximately 14 months. Meaningful strategies for therapeutic intervention are desperately needed. Development of such strategies will require an understanding of the therapeutic concepts that have evolved over the past three decades. This article reviews the key principles that drive the formulation of therapeutic strategies in glioblastoma. Specifically, the concepts of tumour heterogeneity, oncogene addiction, non-oncogene addiction, tumour initiating cells, tumour microenvironment, non-coding sequences and DNA damage response will be reviewed.
Effects of Intravenous Administration of Slow-Reacting Substance of Anaphylaxis, Histamine, Bradykinin, and Prostaglandin F2α on Pulmonary Mechanics in the Guinea Pig (1974)

The effects of intravenous administration of a purified preparation of slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis (SRS-A), histamine, bradykinin, and prostaglandin F(2alpha) (PGF(2alpha)) on the mechanics of respiration were assessed in the unanesthetized guinea pig. Geometrically increasing doses of SRS-A resulted in graded decreases in average pulmonary compliance, with only modest increases in average pulmonary resistance. A dose with apparent maximal effects. 3,000 U/kg, resulted in a decrease of 49+/-7% of compliance below control values, with an increase in resistance of 24+/-8% above control. Intravenous administration of geometrically increasing amounts of histamine, bradykinin, and prostaglandin F(2alpha) also resulted in decreased compliance; but in each case this was accompanied by a marked increase in respiratory resistance. A decrease of compliance of approximately 50%, induced by intravenous histamine, bradykinin, or PGF(2alpha), was accompanied by an increase of 60-140% in resistance. Thus, intravenously administered SRS-A alters pulmonary mechanics with a more peripheral effect than any of the other agents tested.
An overview of zinc and its importance in dermatology-Part II: The association of zinc with some dermatologic disorders (2016)

In a study on humans and mice with Zn deficiency, Kawamura et al. revealed that allergic contact dermatitis was diminished, whereas irritant contact dermatitis was more severe and prolonged than that in controls. They also proved that epidermal Langerhans cells, which play a protective role against the ATP-mediated inflammatory signals, were decreased in number in humans and mice with the AE under the Zn-deficient diet
Combined vaccination with HER-2 peptide followed by therapy with VEGF peptide mimics exerts effective anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic effects in vitro and in vivo (2012)

Overexpression of HER-2 and VEGF plays a key role in the development and metastasis of several human cancers. Many FDA-approved therapies targeting both HER-2 (Trastuzumab, Herceptin) and VEGF (Bevacizumab, Avastin) are expensive, have unacceptable toxicities and are often associated with the development of resistance. Here, we evaluate the dual antitumor effects of combining designed particular HER-2 peptide vaccine with VEGF peptide mimics. In vitro, HER-2 phosphorylation and antibody-dependent cellular toxicity were used to validate whether combining HER-2- and VEGF-targeting therapies would be effective. Moreover, a two-pronged approach was tested in vivo: (1) active immunotherapy with conformational HER-2 B-cell epitope vaccines and (2) anti-angiogenic therapy with a peptide structured to mimic VEGF. A transplantable BALB/c mouse model challenged with TUBO cells was used to test the effects of the HER-2 peptide vaccine combined with VEGF peptide mimics. Tumor sections after treatment were stained for blood vessel density and actively dividing cells. Our results show that immunization with an HER-2 peptide epitope elicits high affinity HER-2 native antibodies that are effective in inhibiting tumor growth in vivo, an effect that is enhanced by VEGF peptide mimics. We demonstrate that the combination of HER-2 and VEGF peptides induces potent anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic responses.
Increased plasma DNA integrity index in head and neck cancer patients (2006)

Analysis of the length of circulating DNA in plasma has been reported as a marker for solid tumor detection. We assessed the sensitivity and specificity of increased plasma DNA length to identify patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and monitor posttreatment disease status. Fifty-eight HNSCC patients with paired pre- and postoperative plasma and 47 plasma samples from control subjects were analyzed using quantitative PCR to determine plasma DNA integrity index. We found that the mean DNA integrity index was significantly greater in the plasma from HNSCC patients, 0.24 (95% CI: 0.11, 0.38), when compared to plasma from the control subjects, -2.24 (95% CI: -2.92, -1.56), p < 0.0001 using multivariate analysis. The optimal sensitivity (the value for which sensitivity equals specificity) was found at a plasma DNA integrity index of 0.82: sensitivity, 84.5%; specificity, 83%. However, there was no significant difference noted between pre- and postoperative DNA integrity index in plasma samples from HNSCC patients. This study shows that DNA integrity index in the plasma of the patients with HNSCC is increased in comparison with that in the plasma from non-HNSCC control subjects. Lack of normalization of plasma DNA integrity index after surgical resection implies the persistence of a population of cells with an altered pattern of DNA degradation despite removal of malignancy.