gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Targeting the neuropeptide Y system in stress-related psychiatric disorders (2014)

Repeated, extreme, or traumatic stressors can elicit pathological effects leading to many negative physical and psychological outcomes. Stressors can precipitate the onset of psychiatric diseases, or exacerbate pre-existing disorders including various anxiety and mood disorders. As stressors can negatively impact human psychiatric health, it is essential to identify neurochemicals that may confer protection from the negative sequelae of repeated or extreme stress exposure. Elucidating the neurobiological underpinnings of stress resilience will enhance our ability to promote resilience to, or recovery from, stress-related psychiatric disease. Herein, we will review the evidence for neuropeptide Y as an endogenous mediator of resilience and its potential relevance for the treatment of stress-related psychiatric diseases.
An Introduction to 3-D User Interface Design (2001)

Three-dimensional user interface design is a critical component of any virtual environment (VE) application. In this paper, we present a broad overview of 3-D interaction and user interfaces. We discuss the effect of common VE hardware devices on user interaction, as well as interaction techniques for generic 3-D tasks and the use of traditional 2-D interaction styles in 3-D environments. We divide most user-interaction tasks into three categories: navigation, selection/manipulation, and system control. Throughout the paper, our focus is on presenting not only the available techniques but also practical guidelines for 3-D interaction design and widely held myths. Finally, we briefly discuss two approaches to 3-D interaction design and some example applications with complex 3-D interaction requirements. We also present an annotated online bibliography as a reference companion to this article.
Increased Cardiomyocyte Differentiation from Human Embryonic Stem Cells in Serum‐Free Cultures (2005)

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can differentiate into cardiomyocytes, but the efficiency of this process is low. We routinely induce cardiomyocyte differentiation of the HES-2 cell line by coculture with a visceral endoderm-like cell line, END-2, in the presence of 20% fetal calf serum (FCS). In this study, we demonstrate a striking inverse relationship between cardiomyocyte differentiation and the concentration of FCS during HES-2-END-2 coculture. The number of beating areas in the cocultures was increased 24-fold in the absence of FCS compared with the presence of 20% FCS. An additional 40% increase in the number of beating areas was observed when ascorbic acid was added to serum-free cocultures. The increase in serum-free cocultures was accompanied by increased mRNA and protein expression of cardiac markers and of Isl1, a marker of cardiac progenitor cells. The number of beating areas increased up to 12 days after initiation of coculture of HES-2 with END-2 cells. However, the number of alpha-actinin-positive cardiomyocytes per beating area did not differ significantly between serum-free cocultures (503 +/- 179; mean +/- standard error of the mean) and 20% FCS cocultures (312 +/- 227). The stimulating effect of serum-free coculture on cardiomyocyte differentiation was observed not only in HES-2 but also in the HES-3 and HES-4 cell lines. To produce sufficient cardiomyocytes for cell replacement therapy in the future, upscaling cardiomyocyte formation from hESCs is essential. The present data provide a step in this direction and represent an improved in vitro model, without interfering factors in serum, for testing other factors that might promote cardiomyocyte differentiation.
Antigenicity and immunogenicity of multiple antigen peptides (MAP) containing P. vivax CS epitopes in Aotus monkeys (1997)

Using linear synthetic peptides corresponding to the Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite (CS) protein of the common type, we have identified several T and B-cell epitopes recognized by human individuals. Three T-cell epitopes studied (p6) from the amino, (p11) from the central and (p25) from the carboxyl regions, were widely recognized by lymphocytes of immune donors. A series of six peptides, in addition to p11, representing the central repeat domain of the CS(p11-p17) protein were used in ELISA assays to map the B-cell epitopes of this region. P11 was the peptide most frequently recognized by sera containing antibodies to the homologous CS protein as determined by IFAT. The sequences corresponding to peptides p6, p11 and P25 as well as that representing a universal T-cell epitope derived from the tetanus toxin were used to assemble eight different Multiple Antigen Peptides (MAP). The immunogenicity of these MAP was analysed in Aotus monkeys. Groups of two animals were immunized with each MAP and both antibody response, T-lymphocyte proliferation and in vitro gamma-IFN production were evaluated. Two MAPs containing the same B-cell epitope and either a promiscuous CS-protein derived T-cell epitope (p25) or the tetanus toxin epitope (p-tt30) proved to be the most immunogenic and induced high levels of anti-peptide antibodies that recognized the native protein. Except for animals immunized with MAP VII, there was no correlation between antibody levels, lymphocyte proliferation or gamma-IFN production in vitro. The broad recognition of these epitopes by individuals which had been exposed to malaria, the capacity of these MAPs to induce antibodies, recognize the cognate protein, and in vitro gamma-IFN production encourages further analyses of the potential of these proteins as malaria vaccine candidates for human use.
Fructan 1-Exohydrolases. β-(2,1)-Trimmers during Graminan Biosynthesis in Stems of Wheat? Purification, Characterization, Mass Mapping, and Cloning of Two Fructan 1-Exohydrolase Isoforms, (2003)

Graminan-type fructans are temporarily stored in wheat (Triticum aestivum) stems. Two phases can be distinguished: a phase of fructan biosynthesis (green stems) followed by a breakdown phase (stems turning yellow). So far, no plant fructan exohydrolase enzymes have been cloned from a monocotyledonous species. Here, we report on the cloning, purification, and characterization of two fructan 1-exohydrolase cDNAs (1-FEH w1 and w2) from winter wheat stems. Similar to dicot plant 1-FEHs, they are derived from a special group within the cell wall-type invertases characterized by their low isoelectric points. The corresponding isoenzymes were purified to electrophoretic homogeneity, and their mass spectra were determined by quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Characterization of the purified enzymes revealed that inulin-type fructans [beta-(2,1)] are much better substrates than levan-type fructans [beta-(2,6)]. Although both enzymes are highly identical (98% identity), they showed different substrate specificity toward branched wheat stem fructans. Although 1-FEH activities were found to be considerably higher during the fructan breakdown phase, it was possible to purify substantial amounts of 1-FEH w2 from young, fructan biosynthesizing wheat stems, suggesting that this isoenzyme might play a role as a beta-(2,1)-trimmer throughout the period of active graminan biosynthesis. In this way, the species and developmental stage-specific complex fructan patterns found in monocots might be determined by the relative proportions and specificities of both fructan biosynthetic and breakdown enzymes.
Biphasic effect of interferon‐γ in murine collagen‐induced arthritis (1995)

Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) exerts both enhancing and suppressing influences on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), depending on the route and protocol of administration. To study the role of IFN-gamma on the autoimmune process of CIA, we treated DBA/1 mice with two different rat monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to murine IFN-gamma. Treatments, given twice weekly for 4 weeks, consisted of intraperitoneal injections of either mAb. In early treatments, starting from the day of immunization with type II collagen (CII), the severity of arthritis was reduced in both groups of anti-IFN-gamma-treated mice compared with control groups. Moreover, anti-CII antibody levels decreased in the sera of these mice. CIA was also down-regulated in mice treated from days 14 or 28 post immunization. In contrast, late treatments with anti-IFN-gamma mAb either induced aggravating effects, or did not affect the course of the disease. On the other hand, administration of high doses (8 x 10(4) U three times/week) of rat recombinant IFN-gamma exerted a transient increase of CIA severity. These findings suggest that IFN-gamma may play a critical role during both the induction and the course of CIA, first enhancing the immune response, and then regulating the arthritis process.
Optimum bitewing examination recall intervals assessed by computer simulation. (2000)

In the best interests of their patients, it would seem that dentists need to exercise considerable caution in making positive decisions to restore approximal tooth surfaces on the basis of bitewing radiographic evidence and that for some dentists current guidelines for bitewing examination intervals would appear to be too permissive.
Limited sharing with traffic prediction for dynamic bandwidth allocation and QoS provisioning over Ethernet passive optical networks (2005)

Feature Issue on Optical Access Networks (OAN) As an inexpensive, simple, and scalable solution for broadband access, Ethernet passive optical networks (EPONs) have the capability of delivering integrated broadband services to the end users. A critical issue of EPONs is the utility of a shared upstream channel among the local users, and thus an efficient bandwidth allocation mechanism is required to facilitate statistical multiplexing among the local network traffic. In this paper we propose a dynamic bandwidth allocation scheme, i.e., limited sharing with traffic prediction (LSTP), for upstream channel sharing over EPONs. LSTP enables dynamic bandwidth negotiation between the optical line terminal (OLT) and its associated optical network units (ONUs), alleviates data delay by predicting the traffic arrived during the waiting time and prereserving a portion of bandwidth for delivery, and avoids the aggressive bandwidth competition by upper bounding the allocated bandwidth to each ONU. Theoretical analysis and simulation results verify the feasibility of LSTP by showing that LSTP outperforms other existing schemes with respect to QoS metrics of data delay and data loss.
ROCK mediates thrombin's endothelial barrier dysfunction (2000)

Thrombin-induced endothelial monolayer hyperpermeability is thought to result from increased F-actin stress fiber-related contractile tension, a process regulated by the small GTP-binding protein Rho. We tested whether this process was dependent on the Rho-associated protein kinase, ROCK, using a specific ROCK inhibitor, Y-27632. The effects of Y-27632 on thrombin-induced myosin light chain phosphorylation (MLCP) and tyrosine phosphorylation of p125 focal adhesion kinase (p125(FAK)) and paxillin were measured by Western blotting. F-actin organization and content were analyzed by digital imaging, and endothelial monolayer permeability was measured in bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cell (EC) monolayers using a size-selective permeability assay. Y-27632 enhanced EC monolayer barrier function due to a decline in small-pore number that was associated with increased EC surface area, reduced F-actin content, and reorganization of F-actin to beta-catenin-containing cell-cell adherens junctions. Although Y-27632 prevented thrombin-induced MLCP, stress fiber formation, and the increased phosphotyrosine content of paxillin and p125(FAK), it attenuated but did not prevent the thrombin-induced formation of large paracellular holes. These data indicate that thrombin-induced stress fiber formation is ROCK dependent. In contrast, thrombin-induced paracellular hole formation occurs in a ROCK-independent manner, whereas thrombin-induced monolayer hyperpermeability appears to be partially ROCK dependent.
Medium‐term Follow‐up of the Intravaginal Slingplasty Operation Indicates Minimal Deterioration of Urinary Continence With Time (1999)

An assessment of the medium term efficacy of stress incontinence cure in a group of patients who had undergone the intravaginal slingplasty (IVS) operation is presented. Eighty-five unselected patients, aged 27 to 83 years at the time of surgery, 12 with pure stress symptoms, and 73 with mixed incontinence symptoms underwent the IVS procedure between 31 and 57 months previously (mean 3.9 years). The patients were assessed with the same self-administered semiquantitative questionnaire used in the initial assessment. The results were compared with the original cure rate which was 88% at 1.75 years with another 2.5% more than 70% improved (total 90.5%). The cure rate in the 75 patients assessed at 3.9 years was 81%, with another 8% reporting more than 70% improvement (total 89%). Included in the latter were 2 patients who, though originally designated as failures, gradually achieved almost 100% continence within 2 years of surgery. Deterioration of continence following the IVS operation appears more like the Burch colposuspension than needle suspensions. It is possible to explain deterioration of continence with time in terms of age-related connective tissue laxity of the vaginal hammock. Improvement in 2 women with time can be explained by tightening of the hammock via paraurethral scar contraction with time. Whether the IVS operation improves or deteriorates in the longer term may depend on which process predominates.
A small rab GTPase is distributed in cytoplasmic vesicles in non polarized cells but colocalizes with the tight junction marker ZO-1 in polarized epithelial cells (1994)

Small rab/Ypt1/Sec4 GTPase family have been involved in the regulation of membrane traffic along the biosynthetic and endocytic pathways in eucaryotic cells. Polarized epithelial cells have morphologically and functionally distinct apical and basolateral surfaces separated by tight junctions. The establishment and maintenance of these structures require delivery of membrane proteins and lipids to these domains. In this work, we have isolated a cDNA clone from a human intestinal cDNA library encoding a small GTPase, rab13, closely related to the yeast Sec4 protein. Confocal microscopy analysis on polarized Caco-2 cells shows that rab13 protein colocalized with the tight junction marker ZO-1. Cryostat sections of tissues confirm that rab13 localized to the junctional complex region of a variety of epithelia, including intestine, kidney, liver, and of endothelial cells. This localization requires assembly and integrity of the tight junctions. Disruption of tight junctions by incubation in low Ca2+ media induces the redistribution of rab13. In cells devoid of tight junctions, rab13 was found associated with vesicles dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. Cell-cell contacts initiated by E-cadherin in transfected L cells do not recruit rab13 to the resulting adherens-like junction complexes. The participation of rab13 in polarized transport, in the assembly and/or the activity of tight junctions is discussed.
Identification of a diacylglycerol acyltransferase gene involved in accumulation of triacylglycerol in Mycobacterium tuberculosis under stress (2006)

Mycobacterium tuberculosis under stress stores triacylglycerol (TG). There are 15 genes in M. tuberculosis that belong to a novel family of TG synthase genes (tgs), but it is not known which of them is responsible for this accumulation of TG. In this paper, it is reported that M. tuberculosis H37Rv accumulated TG under acidic, static or hypoxic growth conditions, or upon treatment with NO, whereas TG accumulation was drastically reduced in the tgs1 (Rv3130c) disrupted mutant. Complementation with tgs1 restored this TG accumulation. C(26) was a major fatty acid in this TG, indicating that the TGS1 gene product uses C(26) fatty acid, which is known to be produced by the mycobacterial fatty acid synthase. TGS1 expressed in Escherichia coli preferred C(26 : 0)-CoA for TG synthesis. If TG storage is needed for the long-term survival of M. tuberculosis under dormant conditions, the tgs1 product could be a suitable target for antilatency drugs.
Increased serum levels of soluble receptors for tumor necrosis factor in cancer patients. (1991)

Soluble forms of the two molecular species of the cell surface receptors for tumor necrosis factor (TNF) have been detected in normal urine. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for these soluble receptors, we determined their levels in the sera of 40 healthy subjects and 59 patients with solid tumors. The mean +/- SD concentrations of both the soluble type I (p55) and type II (p75) receptors were significantly higher in the cancer patients than in the healthy controls: 1.96 +/- 1.19 versus 0.79 +/- 0.19 ng/ml (P less than 0.001) and 6.43 +/- 4.8 versus 3.2 +/- 0.6 ng/ml (P less than 0.001), respectively. The incidence and the extent of the increase correlated with the staging of disease. Sera of the cancer patients had a marked inhibitory effect on the in vitro cytocidal activity of TNF. This inhibition was proportional to the content of soluble TNF receptors and could be fully abolished by the addition to the sera of specific antibodies against the receptors. Among the cancer patients, the incidence of increase in the concentrations of soluble TNF receptors (about 70%) greatly exceeded that of the serum carcinoembryonic antigen (about 26%), a commonly used cancer marker. The origin of the serum soluble TNF receptors in cancer patients and the physiological implications of their effect on TNF function remain to be elucidated.
The effect of pressure and freezing on luminescence. II. Re(I) metal complexes (1982)

The effect of pressure and freezing on the radiative and nonradiative rates from the excited states of two rhenium metal complexes has been investigated in a series of solvents with varying polarity. The radiative rates (kr) depend on the low frequency dielectric constant (ε) of the solvent. A clear demonstration of this dependence is exhibited at the phase transition of the solvent. In polar solvents, kr and ε drop discontinuously while in nonpolar solvents kr and ε show no substantial change. The nonradiative rates (knr) in the liquid and solid phases, depend primarily on the energy gap between the emitting and ground states. The blue shift in energy causes a drop in knr. At the phase transition, both the blue shift in peak energy and the narrowing in ground state potential well affect knr.
Immunotherapy of bladder cancer with cytokine gene-modified tumor vaccines. (1994)

This study explored the use of cytokine gene-modified tumor cells as cellular vaccines for the treatment of bladder cancer. The mouse MBT-2 tumor is an excellent model for human bladder cancer. This carcinogen-induced tumor of bladder origin resembles human bladder cancer in its etiology and histology and responds to treatment in a manner similar to that of its human counterpart. In a previous study we have shown that interleukin 2 (IL-2)-secreting, irradiated, MBT-2 cell preparations were capable of curing animals from orthotopically established tumors and engendered protective immunological memory in the cured animals. In this study we have compared the effectiveness of several cytokines and found that while IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, and gamma-interferon were only weakly effective in the therapeutic vaccination protocol, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor was almost as effective as but not superior to IL-2, as reported previously for another tumor model system. Induction of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte correlated only poorly with the therapeutic benefit of the cytokine gene-modified tumor cell preparations, questioning its prognostic value for the development of improved genetically modified tumor vaccines.
Significant Roles of Inducible Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in Angiogenesis in Rat Sponge Implants (1997)

Angiogenesis in rat sponge implants, as determined from the concentration of hemoglobin in the sponge granuloma tissues, was gradually increased over a 14-day experimental period. The inducible cyclooxygenase COX-2 was detected in the sponge granuloma tissues at day 4 by Western blot analysis using specific mouse COX-2 antibody. Angiogenesis in the sponge implants was enhanced by daily topical injections of human recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or human recombinant epidermal growth factor (EGF) (100 or 1000 ng/sponge/day) for 4 days. These treatments clearly enhanced the expression of COX-2 in the sponge granuloma tissues. In immunohistochemical studies, COX-2-positive staining was mainly observed in the endothelial cells of the neovasculature and in the fibroblasts of the granuloma capsule. Administration of the selective COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 (p.o., 3 mg/kg, 3 times a day) for 14 days significantly inhibited the angiogenesis. The angiogenesis enhanced with bFGF or EGF (day 4) was inhibited by administration of indomethacin or NS-398, both in the above regimen, and fell to the level obtained without growth factor treatment. These results suggest that COX-2 induced in the sponge granuloma tissues may participate in neovascularization through prostaglandin formation.
Hypoglycemia Early Alarm Systems Based on Multivariable Models (2013)

Hypoglycemia is a major challenge of artificial pancreas systems and a source of concern for potential users and parents of young children with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). Early alarms to warn the potential of hypoglycemia are essential and should provide enough time to take action to avoid hypoglycemia. Many alarm systems proposed in the literature are based on interpretation of recent trends in glucose values. In the present study, subject-specific recursive linear time series models are introduced as a better alternative to capture glucose variations and predict future blood glucose concentrations. These models are then used in hypoglycemia early alarm systems that notify patients to take action to prevent hypoglycemia before it happens. The models developed and the hypoglycemia alarm system are tested retrospectively using T1D subject data. A Savitzky-Golay filter and a Kalman filter are used to reduce noise in patient data. The hypoglycemia alarm algorithm is developed by using predictions of future glucose concentrations from recursive models. The modeling algorithm enables the dynamic adaptation of models to inter-/intra-subject variation and glycemic disturbances and provides satisfactory glucose concentration prediction with relatively small error. The alarm systems demonstrate good performance in prediction of hypoglycemia and ultimately in prevention of its occurrence.