gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Attenuation of hypertension by C-fiber stimulation of the human median nerve and the concept-based novel device (2018)

High blood pressure (BP) is a highly controllable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases; however, awareness of this condition and the rates of controlled hypertension are low. Experimental animal studies have shown that stimulation of the median nerve or PC6 acupoint over the wrist has effects on cardiovascular activities, including reductions in systolic and diastolic BPs. A proof-of-concept study was conducted in humans to investigate whether stimulation of median nerve near PC6 acupoint decreased high BP, identify the optimal stimulation parameters for the BP-lowering effects of median nerve stimulation, and determine the specific peripheral nerves or types of afferent fibers mediating the BP-lowering effects. Median nerve stimulation was carried out bilaterally or unilaterally with different stimulation parameters, and the BP and heart rate were monitored. The afferent mechanisms underlying the effects of median nerve stimulation on hypertension were investigated via microneurography, A-fiber blocking experiments, and localized chemical or electrical stimulation. Bilateral median nerve stimulation at either low or high frequencies produced profound but transient reductions in systolic BP, which were elicited when median nerve stimulation was unilaterally applied at interelectrode distances of 2 and 4 cm. Systolic BP was also reduced by electrical stimulation of the thumb on the palm side. Although microneurographic recordings revealed the excitation of both A- and C-fibers following median nerve stimulation, the median nerve-mediated reductions in BP were not affected by A-fiber blockade, and they were mimicked by the activation of C-fibers with capsaicin. The present results indicate that activation of C-fibers in the median nerve generates BP-lowering effects in humans. Based on our clinical study, an optimized median nerve stimulator was built and combined with a wrist BP monitor for simultaneous BP measurements and median nerve stimulation.
Reduced Functional Avidity Promotes Central and Effector Memory CD4 T Cell Responses to Tumor-Associated Antigens (2010)

The effect of TCR signals on the differentiation of memory T cells is poorly defined. Conventional wisdom suggests that high-avidity interactions are best for the selection of vaccine Ag candidates or T cell specificities for adoptive T cell therapy to stimulate robust responses. However, in conditions of Ag persistence, high-avidity clones might exhaust and fail to form long-lived protective memory. We have manipulated the functional avidity of CD4 T cells by reducing expression of Lck, a key kinase involved in TCR triggering. Using a mouse model, we followed tetramer-positive T cells responding to a tumor Ag expressed by an adenocarcinoma. We show that reducing the functional avidity increased effector-effector memory responses and improved the generation of self-renewing, recirculating, tumor Ag-specific memory phenotype CD4 T cells. Moreover, such cells together with wild type CD8 T cells were better able to control tumor growth. Mechanistically, reducing Lck prolonged IL-2 production and cell turnover in the central memory population while reducing expression of exhaustion markers in the face of chronic Ag. Our data indicate that, in situations of persistent Ag challenge, generating T cells with reduced functional avidity may elicit more effective immune responses.
Local Implantation of Autologous Bone Marrow Cells for Therapeutic Angiogenesis in Patients With Ischemic Heart Disease. Clinical Trial and Preliminary Results. (2001)

A new therapy for severe ischemic heart disease has been developed; therapeutic angiogenesis induced by the local implantation of autologous bone marrow cells (BMC). After confirming that no detrimental changes were induced by this treatment in a canine heart model, a clinical trial was commenced in 1999. Thus far, 5 patients have been given this new treatment concomitant with coronary artery bypass grafting and all have been followed up for at least 1 year. Autologous BMC were implanted into the ungraftable area and postoperative cardiac scintigraphy showed specific improvement in coronary perfusion in 3 of the 5 patients. Postoperative chest radiography, electrocardiography, echocardiography and blood tests did not reveal any detrimental changes. In conclusion, this new therapy appears to be safe and could provide a treatment option for patients with otherwise untreatable ischemic heart disease.
The Assembly of Species Communities: Chance or Competition? (1979)

We challenge Diamond's (1975) idea that island species distributions are determined predominantly by competitions canonized by his "assembly rules." We show that every assembly rule is either tautological, trivial, or a pattern expected were species distributed at random. In order to demonstrate that competition is responsible for the joint distributions of species, one would have to falsify a null hypothesis stating that the distributions are generated by the species randomly and individually colonizing an archipelago.
Characterization of a Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variant (SCV) Associated with Persistent Bovine Mastitis (2008)

Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of bovine mastitis and foodborne and other diseases in humans. This study tested the hypothesis that small colony variants (SCVs) of S. aureus are implicated in chronic bovine mastitis. Six S. aureus isolates from foremilk samples from 11 chronically infected cows were investigated. Five isolates had typical morphology and were hemolytic and coagulase positive; one was a heterogeneous population of typical and SCV phenotype (tiny nonhemolytic colonies). In the presence of gentamicin, three of the previously typical S. aureus developed SCVs that were confirmed as S. aureus by biochemical and genetic analyses; these SCVs reverted to the typical form on antibiotic-free medium. The SCV isolate (Heba3231) from the heterogeneous population had a slow growth rate and prolonged lag phase and did not revert during 10 h of incubation. Transcriptional analysis showed that SCV Heba3231 had reduced expression of agr, hla, and coa and increased expression of indicators of fermentation pathways compared to the parent strain. Invasion of and persistence in a primary culture of bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) showed that SCV Heba3231 had minimal deleterious effects, whereas the parent strain or the Newbould 305 strain caused severe damage. Recovery of the parent strain from BAEC yielded a mixture of the parent and SCV phenotypes. This study reports for the first time the isolation of S. aureus SCV from persistent bovine mastitis and suggests that SCV may be an important contributor to the prolonged survival of S. aureus in some cases of mastitis.
Generation of a multipathogen-specific T-cell product for adoptive immunotherapy based on activation-dependent expression of CD154 (2011)

Viral and fungal infections remain a leading cause of mortality in patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Adoptive transfer of multipathogen-specific T cells is promising in restoring immunity and thereby preventing and treating infections, but approaches are currently limited because of time-consuming and laborious procedures. Therefore, we investigated a new strategy to simultaneously select T cells specific for viral and fungal pathogens based on activation-dependent expression of CD154. Single- and multipathogen-specific T-cell lines with high specificity for adenovirus (AdV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Candida albicans, and/or Aspergillus fumigatus could be readily generated within 14 days irrespective of the precursor frequency. The T-cell lines responded reproducibly to endogenously processed antigen and specifically proliferated upon antigenic stimulation. Although isolation based on CD154 favors enrichment of CD4(+) T cells, AdV-, EBV- and CMV-specific CD8(+) T cells could be expanded and demonstrated lysis of target cells. Conversely, T cell-mediated alloreactivity was almost abrogated compared with the starting fraction. This selection and/or expansion strategy may form the basis for future adoptive immunotherapy trials in patients at risk for multiple infections and may be translated to other antigens.
Specific activation of glucuronide prodrugs by antibody-targeted enzyme conjugates for cancer therapy. (1992)

Cancer chemotherapy may be improved by increasing antineoplastic drug specificity for tumor cells. We have synthesized a glucuronide prodrug that can be enzymatically converted to an antineoplastic agent at tumor cells that are able to bind beta-glucuronidase-monoclonal antibody conjugates. The glucuronide prodrug BHAMG, the tetra-n-butyl ammonium salt of (p-di-2-chloroethylaminophenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside) uronic acid, was 150 times less toxic than the parent drug, N,N-di-(2-chloroethyl)-4-hydroxyaniline, to HepG2 human hepatoma cells and over 1000-fold less toxic than the parent drug to AS-30D rat hepatoma cells in vitro. In the presence of beta-glucuronidase, BHAMG was activated and became as toxic as the parent drug N,N-di-(2-chloroethyl)4-hydroxyaniline. A conjugate (RH1-beta G) was formed by linking beta-glucuronidase to a monoclonal antibody which binds to an antigen expressed on the surface of AS-30D cells. The concentration of BHAMG causing 50% inhibition of AS-30D cellular protein synthesis was reduced over 1000-fold, from greater than 770 microM to less than 0.74 microM after these cells were preincubated with RH1-beta G. Specificity of BHAMG activation at antigen-positive cells was shown by monoclonal antibody RH1 blocking of RH1-beta G conversion of BHAMG to toxic drug and by the inability of BHAMG to be converted to active drug when antigen-negative control cells were preincubated with RH1-beta G. Our results show that the targeted-beta-glucuronidase activation of BHAMG can increase the specificity of chemotherapy for rat hepatoma in vitro and suggest that the targeted activation of glucuronide prodrugs may be useful for cancer therapy.
Stimuli‐Responsive Porous Hydrogels at Interfaces for Molecular Filtration, Separation, Controlled Release, and Gating in Capsules and Membranes (2010)

A continuously growing area of controlled and tunable transport and separation of biomolecules and drugs has recently attracted attention to the structures which can be referred to as stimuli-responsive porous hydrogel thin films. Because of spatial constraints, swelling/shrinking of the hydrogel films results in closing/opening (or vice versa) of the film's pores. Such responsive systems can be used in the configuration of plane films or capsules. The combination of a low thickness (translating into a low hydrodynamic flow resistance and rapid response) with well-defined size and shape of pores (translating into better control of transport and separation), which can be closed, opened, or tuned by an external signal (allowing a large amplitude of changes in diffusivity of solutes in the thin film and a precise control of the pore size), makes these materials very attractive for a range of applications, such as molecular filtration, separation, drug delivery, sensors, and actuators.
Determination of incidence and partial characterization of tumor‐associated antigens found in the urine of patients bearing solid tumors (1980)

Urine samples from patients with solid tumors and from donors without malignant disease were concentrated and tested for the presence of tumor-associated antigens. In the complement-fixation assay using serum from a source autologous with the source of the urine, 87.4% of cancer patients were positive, while only 6.9% of control donors were positive. When serum from an allogenic source was used, 94.7% of cancer patients and 35.1% of control donors were positive. Absorption of a cancer patient's serum with autologous tumor cells removed antibody activity to autologous and allogeneic urine samples. Normal lymphocytes, skin, or muscle-cell suspensions were ineffective as absorbents. The excretion of antigen into urine is dependent upon the presence of tumor. Surgical removal of tumor resulted in cessation of antigen excretion. The urine remained antigen-negative as long as the patient remained disease-free. The antigenic activity was heat-stable and comprised molecules of greater than 1,000,000 daltons which could be dissociated into smaller molecular weight active fractions by treatment with 6 M urea.
<title>Bone microstructure deformation observed by Raman microscopy</title> (2001)

While many macroscopic approaches have been used to study bone's mechanical properties, little is known about the effect of mechanical stresses on bone tissue at the microstructural and submicrostructural levels. Raman microspectroscopy has been found to be an extremely sensitive technique for examining the effects of mechanical loading on polymer structures and thin films, as well as for the study of protein conformations. We present the first application of this technique to bone tissue. The organic component of bone is a highly ordered matrix composed mainly of collagen fibrils. Stress upon the bone tissue creates disorder in this structure; this disorder can easily be detected by Raman spectroscopy. Small changes in the matrix structure manifest themselves as band shifts in the Raman spectra.
Laser Thermokeratoplasty by Means of a Pulsed Holmium:YAG Laser for Hyperopic Correction (1990)

A new technique of hyperopic correction similar to radial thermokeratoplasty is presented. A pulsed Holmium:YAG laser was used, emitting a wavelength of 2.06 microns. The laser light was guided by a quartz fiber and focused by means of a handpiece. Eight of 16 coagulations located on rings concentric to the pupil resulted in central corneal steepening. The refractive change increased with the applied pulse energy above a threshold of about 10 mJ per pulse and was constant between 15 and 35 mJ per pulse. The effect decreased linearly with greater distance from the center. Four blind human eyes demonstrated that the parameters evaluated in the human cadaver eyes can be transferred to the living eye. Immediately after surgery, folds in Descemet's membrane parallel to the limbus appeared. With time, they gradually diminished but were still persistent after 4 months. Hyperopic changes of up to 5.00 diopters were obtained, remaining stable for 4 months.
Effective treatment of Tourette's syndrome with marijuana (1993)

A single case report is described where marijuana appears to have been an effective treatment modality for symptoms of Tourette's syndrome. Other possible treatment modalities are excluded. It is concluded that there is a need for further work examining the interactions between marijuana, nicotine and the symptomatology of Tourette's syndrome.
Somatic CALR Mutations in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms with Nonmutated JAK2 (2013)

Somatic mutations in the endoplasmic reticulum chaperone CALR were found in a majority of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms with nonmutated JAK2. (Funded by the Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund and others.).
Presence Authorization Rules (2007)

Authorization is a key function in presence systems. Authorization
policies, also known as authorization rules, specify what presence
information can be given to which watchers, and when. This
specification defines an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document
format for expressing presence authorization rules. Such a document
can be manipulated by clients using the XML Configuration Access
Protocol (XCAP), although other techniques are permitted.
Axis-aligned filtering for interactive sampled soft shadows (2012)

We develop a simple and efficient method for soft shadows from planar area light sources, based on explicit occlusion calculation by raytracing, followed by adaptive image-space filtering. Since the method is based on Monte Carlo sampling, it is accurate. Since the filtering is in image-space, it adds minimal overhead and can be performed at real-time frame rates. We obtain interactive speeds, using the Optix GPU raytracing framework. Our technical approach derives from recent work on frequency analysis and sheared pixel-light filtering for offline soft shadows. While sample counts can be reduced dramatically, the sheared filtering step is slow, adding minutes of overhead. We develop the theoretical analysis to instead consider axis-aligned filtering, deriving the sampling rates and filter sizes. We also show how the filter size can be reduced as the number of samples increases, ensuring a consistent result that converges to ground truth as in standard Monte Carlo rendering.
Evaluation of a new citrate‐acetate‐NaCl platelet additive solution for the storage of white cell‐reduced platelet concentrates obtained from half‐strength CPD pooled buffy coats (1995)

PAS 2 and Plasma-Lyte A make important contributions to platelet transfusion quality improvement and give an excellent CCl even after 4 days of storage.
7‐Deaza purine bases offer a higher ion stability in the analysis of dna by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (1995)

Oligodeoxynucleotides which contain 7-deaza analogues of the normal purine nucleotides have been synthesized both enzymatically and chemically. When subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) analysis, the modified samples offer both higher stability and increased sensitivity compared to otherwise identical unmodified oligodeoxynucleotides. In view of these observations, models for the fragmentation of oligodeoxynucleotides in MALDI-MS with positive ion detection mode are presented. Additionally, the potential use of 7-deaza purine nucleotides in the MALDI-MS analysis of DNA sequencing reactions is discussed.
Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University (2008)

o c h e mi s t r y ) P
Design and Synthesis of Benzimidazole-Linked meta-Substituted Benzylidenes/Benzyls as Biologically Significant New Chemical Entities (2013)

Abstract meta-Linked thiazolidinedione (TZD)– and diethyl malonate (DEM)–based benzylidenes and methyl acetoacetate (MAA)–based benzyl moieties linked to the 2-position of N-methyl benzimidazole were synthesized. TZD- and DEM-based compounds were synthesized by condensation of 2,4-thiazolidinedone and DEM respectively with the corresponding 3-substituted benzaldehyde, whereas MAA-based compounds were obtained by halogen displacement with the corresponding 3-substituted phenol. These new chemical entities were designed to provide a balanced agonism at the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha/gamma (PPARα/γ) in the management of type 2 diabetes: a move from glitazones to selective PPARγ modulators (SPPARγMs). Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Synthetic Communications® to view the free supplemental file. Keywords: Benzimidazolebenzylidenediethylmalonatemethyl acetoacetate2,4-thiazolidinedione ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are thankful to the Punjabi University authorities for providing the necessary research facilities. We are also grateful to the director and Avtar Singh of RSIC, Panjab University, Chandigarh, and director, NIPER, SAS Nagar, Mohali, Punjab, for extending the facilities for spectral analysis of the compounds reported in this article. One of the authors (R.M.) is thankful to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, government of India, for providing a research fellowship. Notes a Gold score[ Citation 25 ] of the best docked conformation. b The code written is as given in the reference. Notes. db, double bond; sb, single bond.
Physiological Effects of Whole Cottonseed in the Diet of Lactating Dairy Cows (1985)

With 32 lactating Holstein cows we evaluated physiological effects of gossypol and cyclopropenoid fatty acids in diets containing 18.5% whole cottonseed (dry matter) based on corn, corn silage, and soybean meal. All cows consumed a control diet for the first 2 wk of lactation and then were assigned to either control or whole cottonseed diet for the remainder of their lactation. Milk production, milk fat and protein percentages, and daily dry matter intake were measured. Dry matter intakes were less for cows consuming the whole cottonseed diet, but net energy intake was similar for all diets. Milk fat from cows consuming whole cottonseed contained detectable concentrations of cyclopropene fatty acids. Total lipid in plasma, total serum cholesterol, serum gossypol, and apparent liver gossypol concentrations were greater in cows fed whole cottonseed. Gossypol and cyclopropenoid fatty acids appeared to be absorbed from the gut of cows fed whole cottonseed. Small amounts of gossypol in serum and liver tissue and small amounts of cyclopropene fatty acids in adipose tissue lipids and milk fat indicate a need to elucidate the significance of these physiologically active compounds in the human diet and their biological effects on lactating dairy cows.
Reversal of multidrug resistance in vivo by dietary administration of the phytochemical indole-3-carbinol. (1996)

A major obstacle to successful chemotherapy is the development of multidrug resistance (MDR) by cancer cells. MDR is characterized by enhanced cellular efflux of many structurally and functionally diverse compounds, including many anticancer drugs, due to overexpression of the MDR-1 gene product, P-glycoprotein. We hypothesized that the phytochemical, indole-3-carbinol (I3C), and some of its acid-condensation derivatives may inhibit P-glycoprotein-mediated transport due to their aromatic and nitrogen components, thus increasing the accumulation and efficacy of anticancer drugs and acting as a dietary adjuvant to conventional chemotherapy. I3C was subjected to acid conditions similar to those occurring in the stomach following ingestion and three acid-condensation products; a dimer, a noncyclic trimer, and a cyclic trimer were isolated and purified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The ability of I3C and its acid-condensation derivatives to reverse MDR was investigated using murine B16 melanoma cells that were transfected with the human MDR-1 gene (B16/hMDR-1 cells) and were cross-resistant to vinblastine and doxorubicin. The I3C acid-condensation product mixture, but not I3C, sensitized B16/hMDR-1 transfectants to the toxicity of vinblastine and doxorubicin. All three I3C acid-condensation products also increased the accumulation of the P-glycoprotein substrate, doxorubicin, in B16/hMDR-1 transfectants to levels comparable to parental B16 cells. The I3C acid-condensation product mixture competed with azidopine for binding to P-glycoprotein, suggesting that the observed MDR-reversing effect of the acid-condensation products was due to direct interaction with P-glycoprotein. The ability of p.o. administered I3C to reverse MDR was also tested in vivo. The resistance of B16/hMDR-1 transfectants to vinblastine and doxorubicin was preserved after i.p. injection and growth in nude mice. Tumor mass in mice that were provided with 333 or 500 mg/kg mouse/day I3C in their diet and injected s.c. with the anticancer drugs doxorubicin or vinblastine was significantly reduced as compared to tumor mass in mice provided with standard diet and injected with these anticancer drugs or mice provided with 500 mg/kg mouse/day I3C and not injected with anticancer compound. The concentrations of I3C used had no effect on survival or the general appearance and behavior of the mice. Collectively, these results indicate that ingestion of the common dietary constituent I3C results in its conversion to acid-condensation derivatives that sensitized MDR tumors to chemotherapeutic drugs without eliciting direct toxicity to the host.