gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Protective effect of rhizoma dioscoreae and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in rats with renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (2009)

Objective To investigate the protective effect of rhizoma dioscoreae and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in rat with renal ischemia-reperfusion(I-R)injury.Methods Sixty female SD rats(4-6 weeks old)were randomly assigned into normal control(group A,n=6),I-R injury(group B,n=18),bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell(MACs)treatment(group C,n=18),and treated with rhizoma dioscoreae and MSCs(group D,n=18).The rats in group D were pretreated with rhizoma dioscoreae for five days before being subjected to left renal vascular occlusion for 60 min,those in group C and D were injected BrdU positive MSCs(1×106/ml)1 ml at 60 min after reperfusion.Rats in group B,C,and D were randomly euthanized for blood sampling and kidney harvesting at 6,48 h and 2 w after reperfusion.The blood urea nitrogen(BUN)and serum creatinine(SCr)were measured.The renal tissue homogenate content of endothelin(ET)was determined with radioimmunoassay.Renal morphologic changes were studied on hematoxylin and eosin(HE)stained sections.PCNA positive cells of renal tubular epithelia and glomeruruls were detected immunohistochemically as proliferation index.The distribution of BrdU positive MSCs and FⅧ-Rag positive cells were also identified immunohistochemically.Results BUN and SCr were significantly lower in group C,D than those in group B at 6 h after reperfusion.At 48 h after reperfusion,BUN and SCr were elevated only in group B and no difference was observed among the four groups 2 w after reperfusion.At 6 h after reperfusion,ET in group B,C was significantly higher than that in group A.ET was significantly lower in group C and D than that in group B,and no difference was observed between group D and group A.At 48 h after reperfusion,there were no significant differences in ET levels among the four groups.At 6 h and 48 h after reperfusion,BrdU positive MSCs were located in renal interstitium and glomerulus in group C and D.At 2 w after reperfusion,more BrdU positive MSCs were located at peritubular capillary and glomerulus.At 6 h,48 h and 2 w after reperfusion,PCNA positive cells and FⅧ-Rag positive cells were much more in group C,D than those in group B,which were more in group D than those in group C.Conclusion MSCs are of protective effect on renal I-R injury.Rhizoma dioscoreae and MSCs have synergistic action in ameliorating renal I-R injury.
Subplate pioneers and the formation of descending connections from cerebral cortex (1994)

The adult cerebral cortex extends axons to a variety of subcortical targets, including the thalamus and superior colliculus. These descending projections are pioneered during development by the axons of a transient population of subplate neurons (McConnell et al., 1989). We show here that the descending axons of cortical plate neurons appear to be delayed significantly in their outgrowth, compared with those of subplate neurons. To assess the possible role of subplate neurons in the formation of these pathways, subplate neurons were ablated during the embryonic period. In all cases, an axon pathway formed from visual cortex through the internal capsule and into the thalamus. In half of all cases, however, cortical axons failed to invade their normal subcortical targets. In the other half, targets were innervated normally. Subplate neurons are therefore likely to provide important cues that aid the process by which cortical axons grow toward, select, and invade their subcortical targets.
Assessment of the clinical utility of serial β-d-glucan concentrations in patients with persistent neutropenic fever (2008)

The performance of the Fungitell assay was investigated in 100 patients with haematological malignancy undergoing chemotherapy who developed antibiotic-unresponsive neutropenic fever (AUNF). Serum beta-D-glucan (BG) concentrations were significantly elevated on the first day of AUNF and all subsequent alternate days to day 10 in 38 patients who developed an invasive fungal infection (IFI) compared to 42 patients remaining free of such infections. The mean and median values of BG were 171.9+/-29.6 and 95.8 pg ml(-1), respectively, for patients with IFI and 64.4+/-17.1 and 32.9 pg ml(-1) for patients with only AUNF (P<0.0001). The differences remained significant over the 10 days despite antifungal therapy. The occurrence of > or =2 sequential concentrations of > or =80 pg ml(-1) ('positive' test) was found to give the best overall option for diagnosis, with an accuracy of 81.3%, sensitivity of 86.8%, positive predictive value of 76.7% and negative predictive value of 86.5%. Of the patients with an IFI, 78% developed a positive test at or before the clinical diagnosis was made -- this occurred at a mean (range) of 1.25 (-14 to +14) days prior to the IFI diagnosis. By starting sampling of blood from the first day of neutropenia rather than from the first day of AUNF, 50% of the patients with subsequent IFI would have been identified 5 days earlier. Increasing sampling to daily from alternate-day frequency did not further improve this earlier timing of an IFI diagnosis. A greater proportion of patients with persistent high levels of BG without overt IFI had severe enterocyte damage or mucositis than those with lower levels of BG without IFI (P=0.002). If the results of the initial BG test had been acted on to change antifungal therapy, discontinuation would have been inappropriate in 30% of patients and would have delayed definitive antifungal therapy. Although the findings for the cohort of patients studied are very useful, there is inter-patient variability in the test's performance. An holistic diagnostic approach is therefore necessary to interpret the test results optimally. Future studies should address this in further detail as well as the impact of empirical antifungal drug use and patient outcome.
Pharmaceutically Important Pre- and Posttranslational Modifications on Human Serum Albumin (2009)

Recombinant technology allows engineering and production of proteins with desirable properties. Human serum albumin has been developed with recombinant technology, and thus plays an increasing role as a drug carrier in the clinical setting. Genetic variations usually occur on the surface of the protein, and do not impose significant effects on the conformation of albumin. However, binding of fatty acids by genetic variants is affected according to the location of the mutation. Albumin undergoes three major posttranslational modifications, namely, oxidation, glycation, and S-nitrosylation. This review gives an account of the different posttranslational modifications that should be taken into consideration when designing albumin mutant analogues with desirable pharmaceutical properties.
Uniform Size Particle Barrier: A Physical Exclusion Device Against Subterranean Termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) (1991)

Workers of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, and the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), were tested for their abilities to penetrate barriers of ground coral particles 5 cm thick. Each barrier was composed of one of 13 particle sizes, ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 mm in diameter. C. formosanus penetrated the least through particles of 1.70-2.36 mm in size, and a wider size range of particles (1.00-2.36 mm) excluded penetration by R. flavipes. When several size ranges were uniformly mixed, the resultant barriers composed of particles in the 1.18-2.80 mm size range effectively prevented penetration by both termite species.
Structure and function of rabies virus glycoprotein. (1978)

Of the three major proteins associated with the rabies virus membrane, only the glycoprotein (G-protein) was found to be located on the external surface of the viral membrane. A minor glycoprotein (gp 50) detected by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) of rabies virus appeared to be a breakdown product of the G-protein. Glycoprotein prepared by treatment of rabies virus with Triton X100 and purified by isoelectric focusing was found to be homogeneous with respect to size and isoelectric point. The apparent molecular weight of this component isolated under nondenaturing conditions is approximately 400,000 daltons. The same material analyzed by PAGE was found to be comprised solely of polypeptide chains of the G-protein (MW 80,000 daltons). Therefore, the Triton X100-released material represents homopolymers of the G-protein. The purified rabies virus glycoprotein (G) is only structural protein of the virus that induces the formation of virus-neutralizing antibodies and which confers immunity to animals. The total protective activity of the virus was recovered in the purified G protein preparation. The protective activity of G protein increased with purification : 9 ng of G protein was required to protect 50% of the mice as compared to 1.63 microgram of the virus. The number of oligosaccharide side chains on rabies virus glycoprotein was investigated. Analysis of glycopeptides obtained by protease digestion of desialated glycoprotein revealed three discrete glycopeptides. Comparison of the protease digestion products from desialated and from untreated glycoprotein indicated a heterogeneity among the glycopeptides in the sialic acid content. Two major tryptic glycopeptides were isolated from desialated rabies virus glycoprotein and were analyzed after protease digestion; one contained two oligosaccharide side chains and the other contained a single oligosaccharide side chain.
The effect of a condensed tannin-containing forage on methane emission by goats1 (2005)

The objective of this study was to compare methane emission by goats consuming the condensed tannin-containing forage sericea lespedeza (Les-pedeza cuneata) or a mixture of crabgrass (Digitaria ischaemum) and Kentucky 31 tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). Two groups of 12 Angora does (initial average BW = 41.5 +/- 2.7 kg) that previously grazed a pasture of sericea lespedeza or crabgrass/tall fescue for approximately 4 mo were used. After 1 wk of adaptation to metabolism cages, gas exchange was measured for 24 h in an open-circuit respiration calorimetry system with four head boxes. Forage harvested daily from the previously grazed pastures was consumed ad libitum. Crude protein concentration was 10.3 and 13.0%, IVDMD was 64.5 and 75.3%, and the level of condensed tannins was 17.7 and 0.5% for sericea lespedeza and crabgrass/tall fescue, respectively. Dry matter intake (1.11 vs. 0.67 kg/d) and digestible DMI (estimated from IVDMD; 0.71 vs. 0.51 kg/d) were greater (P < 0.01) for sericea lespedeza than for crabgrass/tall fescue. Ruminal ammonia N (3.7 and 9.9 mg/dL; P < 0.001) and plasma urea-N concentrations (16.7 and 20.9 mg/dL; P = 0.07) were lower for sericea lespedeza than for crabgrass/tall fescue. Concentrations of individual and total VFA and the acetate-to-propionate ratio in ruminal fluid did not differ between treatments (P > 0.19). Despite higher DMI by goats fed sericea lespedeza, daily energy expenditure (409 vs. 431 kJ/kg BW(0.75)), heart rate (70 vs. 73 beats/min), and the ratio of energy expenditure to heart rate (5.82 vs. 5.94) did not differ between sericea lespedeza and crabgrass/tall fescue, respectively (P > 0.13). Methane emission expressed as both quantity per day or relative to DMI was lower (P <0.001) for sericea lespedeza than for crabgrass/tall fescue (7.4 vs. 10.6 g/d and 6.9 vs. 16.2 g/kg DMI). Substantial differences between the forages in condensed tannins concentration and methane emission by Angora goats suggest that condensed tannins decreased methane emission.
Biomass Baling into Large Square Bales for Efficien t Transport, Storage, and Handling (2008)

Forest Concepts is working under a federal contract from the USDA CSREES SBIR program to develop better methods to collect and transport woody biomass collected from small-scale fuels reduction projects (ranging from residential lots to 20 acre parcels) in the true wildland-urban intermix zone (WUI). Our specific objective is to enable more of the material to be delivered to value-added uses including energy, biorefineries, and engineered wood products. A secondary objective is to enable diversion of urban greenwood from landfills and compost facilities. Our solution to the problem is to develop baling equipment and technology that enable woody biomass to be baled for transport on standard flatbed trucks, rail, and barge. The driving assumption behind our project is that baled biomass a) preserves user values as compared to on-site chipping, and b) facilitates delivery to more distant users than can be economically reached by chip vans or bulk bins. Another consideration for urban and suburban sources is that baling within residential areas produces lower noise, lower dust (and aerosols), and is potentially safer than chipping. We have designed and tested a baler that is a mid-size unit to demonstrate the concepts for equipment, on-site operations, and baled-material distribution logistics. Smaller and larger balers will be defined as appropriate for other markets.
Probabilistic Forecasts of the Magnitude and Timing of Peak Electricity Demand (2005)

Adequate capacity planning requires accurate forecasts of the future magnitude and timing of peak electricity demand. Electricity demand is affected by the day of the week, seasonal variations, holiday periods, feast days, and the weather. A model that provides probabilistic forecasts of both magnitude and timing for lead times of one year is presented. This model is capable of capturing the main sources of variation in demand and uses simulated weather time series, including temperature, wind speed, and luminosity, for producing probabilistic forecasts of future peak demand. Having access to such probabilistic forecasts provides a means of assessing the uncertainty in the forecasts and can lead to improved decision making and better risk management.
MHC Class II–Transduced Tumor Cells Originating in the Immune-Privileged Eye Prime and Boost CD4+ T Lymphocytes that Cross-react with Primary and Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Cells (2007)

Uveal melanoma, the most common malignancy of the eye, has a 50% rate of liver metastases among patients with large primary tumors. Several therapies prolong survival of metastatic patients; however, none are curative and no patients survive. Therefore, we are exploring immunotherapy as an alternative or adjunctive treatment. Uveal melanoma may be particularly appropriate for immunotherapy because primary tumors arise in an immune-privileged site and may express antigens to which the host is not tolerized. We are developing MHC class II (MHC II)-matched allogeneic, cell-based uveal melanoma vaccines that activate CD4(+) T lymphocytes, which are key cells for optimizing CD8(+) T-cell immunity, facilitating immune memory, and preventing tolerance. Our previous studies showed that tumor cells genetically modified to express costimulatory and MHC II molecules syngeneic to the recipient are potent inducers of antitumor immunity. Because the MHC II-matched allogeneic vaccines do not express the accessory molecule, Invariant chain, they present MHC II-restricted peptides derived from endogenously encoded tumor antigens. We now report that MHC II-matched allogeneic vaccines, prepared from primary uveal melanomas that arise in the immune-privileged eye, prime and boost IFNgamma-secreting CD4(+) T cells from the peripheral blood of either healthy donors or uveal melanoma patients that cross-react with primary uveal melanomas from other patients and metastatic tumors. In contrast, vaccines prepared from metastatic cells in the liver are less effective at activating CD4(+) T cells, suggesting that tumor cells originating in immune-privileged sites may have enhanced capacity for inducing antitumor immunity and for serving as immunotherapeutic agents.
The Ballarat Railway Station and Yards (1992)

The Ballarat railway line was completed in 1862 to then current British standards, and hence the railway station and rail yards reflected the then current constructional methods, and architectural style in the buildings. The train hall and carriage shed roofs in particular reflect the design criteria of framed structures of the time, being light wrought iron structures using fabricated members with the roof coverings giving in plane rigidity. The rail yards were originally laid using bull head rail typical of British practice and in some places fixed to longitudinal sleepers. Some examples of this still exist in the rail yards, though disconnected from use. The signalling system for the Ballarat area is one of the last remaining mechanical signalling systems in the V/Line network, part of which is to he preserved, but non-operational, for its heritage value.
Internet usage among agro-based entrepreneur: can it affect productivity? (2009)

This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of internet usage on agro-business productivity and factors affecting it. A total of 164 respondents were involved in the study representing agro-based entrepreneurs in Peninsular Malaysia. The respondents involved in agro-business such as food processing, plantation, animal rearing, farming, fisheries and non-food processing. Respondents were chosen based on the list of agro-based entrepreneurs provided by the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Farmers Organization Authority (FOA) and Agriculture Bank of Malaysia. A survey using a questionnaire developed for the study was used to collect data. Mean, percentage, frequency and independent t-test were generated to describe the general trend of the data. From the results obtained, the level of internet applications usage was at moderate level, while all of the eight internet applications listed in the study showed significant difference in term of internet potential contribution to agro-based productivity comparing between the users and non-users of the listed internet applications.
Binary stochastic implementation of digital logic (2014)

Stochastic computing refers to a mode of computation in which numbers are treated as probabilities implemented as 0/1 bit streams, which essentially is a unary encoding scheme. Previous work has shown significant reduction in area and increase in fault tolerance for low to medium resolution values (6-10 bits). However, this comes at very high latency cost. We propose a novel hybrid approach combining traditional binary with unary stochastic encoding, called binary stochastic. Similar to the binary representation, it is a positional number system, but instead of only 0/1 digits, the digits would be fractions. We show how simple logic such as adders and multipliers can be implemented, and then show more complex function implementations such as the gamma correction function and functions such as tanh, absolute and exponentiation using both combinational and sequential binary stochastic logic. Our experiments show significant reduction in latency compared to unary stochastic, while using significantly smaller area compared to binary implementations on FPGAs.
<title>High-performance cross-platform MPEG decoder</title> (1994)

We present a high performance implementation of a MPEG decoder, written entirely on a high level language. The decoder implementation fully complies with the MPEG-I standard and decodes all (I, P, B) frame types in MPEG video bitstreams and is portable. Versions of this decoder are implemented on Windows 3.1, and on Windows NT (X86, MIPS, ALPHA). A comparison of the performance of the decoder between the various platforms is made. We present a high quality, fast dithering and interpolation algorithm used to convert YCbCr directly into 8 bit palletized images. We propose a new method called Collaborative Compression, of dealing with compression and decompression tasks at a very low cost to achieve 30 fps SIF performance for desktop applications. Collaborative Compression is a systems approach to partitioning the functionality between CPU-centric (i.e. software) and hardware-assist (VLSI) in order to achieve the optimal cost solution. The CPU provides glue programmability to tie the accelerated and non-accelerated parts of the algorithm together. The advent of high bandwidth, low latency busses (VL Bus and PCI) enable a high speed data pathway between the distributed computational elements.
A single amino acid substitution in an MHC class I molecule allows heteroclitic recognition by lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (1991)

Class I molecules of the MHC bind foreign and endogenous peptides allowing recognition by the TCR on CTL. The recognition and killing of cells infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) depends on the recognition of LCMV peptides bound to class I MHC. Mutations in class I MHC molecules have enabled the delineation of regions in the class I molecule important for binding peptides and for interaction with the TCR. We have constructed a library of class I mutants using saturation mutagenesis and report a phenotypic change resulting from a single amino acid substitution that results in the heteroclitic (increased) killing of LCMV-infected cells. This amino acid change, asparagine to serine at position 30, is in a conserved region of the class I molecule contacting the alpha 3 domain. This mutation does not result in increased expression of the class I molecule on the cell surface, does not affect the binding of CD8, and does not affect allogeneic recognition. Cold target experiments show that this heteroclitic killing is due to increased recognition by CTL. These data point toward a critical function for this region of the class I molecule in the binding of peptides or their presentation to CTL.
A Compact Approach to an Isomeric Iheyamine A System and X-ray Crystal Structure of 5-Methyl-5H-azepino[2,3- b :4,5- b ′]diindole (2008)

Abstract A compact three-step synthesis of a new fused bisindole system isomeric with the heterocyclic skeleton present in the marine natural product iheyamine A has been achieved. The structure of the synthetic product was confirmed by a single-crystal X-ray structure.
Brief for American Association on Mental Retardation, The Arc of the United States, the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, The Arc of Georgia, and the Georgia Advocacy Office, Stripling v. Head (2003)

Pursuant to Rule 37.2(b) of the Rules of this Court, The Arc of the United States, el al., move the Court for leave to file a Brief Amici Curiae in support of the petition in the above-entitled case. Counsel for Petitioner has granted his consent to the filing of this brief. Counsel for Respondent, however, has notified counsel for amici that Respondent does not consent. Amici include national and state professional and voluntary associations concerned with criminA1 proceedings affecting people with mental disabilities. Amici thus have expertise concerning criminal defendants with mental disabilities and the impediments to fair judicial processes which will result if those defendants are required to prove their mental retardation beyond a reasonable doubt. Amici wish to offer the Court relevant information on the historical development of the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, and why it cannot be applied to a defendant's effort to invoke the constitutional protection of Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002). Amici also wish to present information on contemporary practices and standards when the State imposes a burden of persuasion on defendants with mental retardation who may face execution. Amici believe that the Georgia statute, providing that crimi1:!a1 defendants must prove their mental retardation beyond a reasonable doubt to invoke the protections of Atkins, impermissibly obstructs the fair adjudication of such constitutional claims. For the above-stated reasons, we respectfully urge the Court to grant this motion for leave to file the accompanying brief in the present case in support of the petition for certiorari.