gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Prediction of Financial Contingency for Asphalt Resurfacing Projects using Artificial Neural Networks (2011)

Historically, actual construction costs have tended to exceed initial cost estimates and budgets. Often this discrepancy is significant enough to cause problems such as depletions of budgets, disputes, and reductions in work quality. Cost contingency is an important element included in the base cost estimate to protect construction participants including owners, contractors, and architects from the risks associated with underestimating project cost estimates and overrunning cost budgets. Typically, project participants have simply calculated contingency as a fixed percentage of project cost in spite of the importance of contingency. The uniform application of this deterministic method to calculate contingency on the basis of project costs only is not appropriate for all construction projects. This paper identifies factors that influence contingency and proposes a new method for predicting the owner’s financial contingency on transportation construction projects using an artificial neural network (ANN)–based method. Asphalt resurfacing works among transportation projects sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) completed from 2004–2006 are used for this study. The results show the viability of the ANN approach in the prediction of contingency. Accurate predictions of contingencies using this approach can help project administrators better manage contingency requirements on financing projects, allowing a more optimal usage of available project funds.
Plenary lecture. New epoetin molecules and novel therapeutic approaches (1999)

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a 34 kDa protein that is the primary regulator of red blood cell production. EPO facilitates its effect by binding to the cell surface EPO receptor which initiates the JAK-STAT signal transduction cascade. The search for small mimetic molecules of EPO has led to the discovery of a family of peptides that demonstrate EPO mimetic activity. A member of this peptide family, EMP1 (EPO mimetic peptide 1), was used to solve the crystal structure of the soluble EPO receptor in complex with this peptide. The structure revealed a 2:2 stoichiometry of receptor to peptide, with each peptide contacting both receptor molecules in a symmetrical fashion. The potency of the EMPs could be improved through the covalent dimerization of two peptide molecules. Further investigations of EMP EPO receptor complex structures revealed the formation of a non-productive receptor dimer using an inactive peptide. An alternative approach towards the identification of an EPO-like mimetic is to target an intracellular signalling molecule such as haematopoietic cell phosphatase (HCP), also known as SHP1. Inhibiting HCP causes responsive cells to be hypersensitive to EPO. The cloned HCP protein has been utilized in screening assays to identify small molecule inhibitors of HCP.
(Z)- and (E)-3-Alkyldine-1,3-dihydroindol-2-ones : influence of configuration on the transmission of the inductive effect to the carbonyl group (1976)

A series of (Z-) and (E-)-3-alkylidene-1,3-dihydroindol-2-ones has been prepared and their i.r. spectra in the carbonyl region recorded. Good correlations were obtained between the carbonyl stretching frequency of the E-isomers and the polar parameter σ*, indicating that the inductive effect of the alkyl group is transmitted to the carbonyl group and that the variation in frequency in the series is a function of this effect only. The Z-isomers do not give a linear correlation and it is suggested that this is due to the steric interactions of the alkyl group with the oxygen of the carbonyl group which twists the CC–CO system to a certain extent with consequent variation in conjugation.
An interactive 2D and 3D gravity modelling programme for IBM-Compatible personal computers (1996)

Methods of 3D gravity modelling are based on simulating, through simple geometrical bodies, the geometrical parameters of geological structures responsible for the anomalies. This simplification allows for both quantitative interpretation of anomalies and, by varying the theoretical parameters, valid parameters of the real geological body.
Human glioblastoma xenografts overexpressing a tumor-specific mutant epidermal growth factor receptor sensitized to cisplatin by the AG1478 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (2001)

The results of this study may provide the basis for the development of a novel and safe therapeutic strategy for the very aggressive AEGFR-expressing GBM.
Fatal reactions to hymenoptera stings. (2003)

Previous studies measuring immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies in postmortem sera for determining the cause of fatal anaphylaxis have reported only single cases or small groups. Recently, more attention has been paid to reports of patients with venom allergies who are negative by venom skin testing, by in vitro testing or by both tests. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability of postmortem-specific IgE antibody testing in venom anaphylactic death and the range of antibody levels found. Radioallergosorbent testing was performed on sera from three groups: 51 anaphylactic deaths from insect stings, 20 anaphylactic/anaphylactoid deaths from food and drugs, and 31 control subjects. Results were analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi-squared test, and receiver operating characteristic curve. The sera in the sting death group were significantly different from the other two groups, which were not statistically different from each other. The maximal sensitivity of the radioallergosorbent test was 90% at 0.35 ng/mL, and the optimal sensitivity was 73% with a specificity of 86% at 0.54 ng/mL. IgE antibody could not be detected in 10% of the sting death sera and levels from 0.35 to 0.65 ng/mL were found in 24%. The level of specific IgE antibodies against venoms is not predictive of the severity of anaphylactic reaction.
One at a time, live tracking of NGF axonal transport using quantum dots (2007)

Retrograde axonal transport of nerve growth factor (NGF) signals is critical for the survival, differentiation, and maintenance of peripheral sympathetic and sensory neurons and basal forebrain cholinergic neurons. However, the mechanisms by which the NGF signal is propagated from the axon terminal to the cell body are yet to be fully elucidated. To gain insight into the mechanisms, we used quantum dot-labeled NGF (QD-NGF) to track the movement of NGF in real time in compartmentalized culture of rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Our studies showed that active transport of NGF within the axons was characterized by rapid, unidirectional movements interrupted by frequent pauses. Almost all movements were retrograde, but short-distance anterograde movements were occasionally observed. Surprisingly, quantitative analysis at the single molecule level demonstrated that the majority of NGF-containing endosomes contained only a single NGF dimer. Electron microscopic analysis of axonal vesicles carrying QD-NGF confirmed this finding. The majority of QD-NGF was found to localize in vesicles 50–150 nm in diameter with a single lumen and no visible intralumenal membranous components. Our findings point to the possibility that a single NGF dimer is sufficient to sustain signaling during retrograde axonal transport to the cell body.
Threshold for Pre-existing Antibody Levels Limiting Transduction Efficiency of Systemic rAAV9 Gene Delivery: Relevance for Translation (2019)

Widespread anti-AAV antibodies (Abs) in humans pose a critical challenge for the translation of AAV gene therapies, limiting patient eligibility. In this study, non-human primates (NHPs) with pre-existing αAAV Abs were used to investigate the impact of αAAV9 Ab levels on the transduction efficiency of rAAV9 via systemic delivery. No significant differences were observed in vector genome (vg) biodistribution in animals with ≤1:400 total serum αAAV9-IgG compared to αAAV9-Ab-negative animals, following an intravenous (i.v.) rAAV9-h<i>NAGLU</i> <sup>op</sup> (codon-optimized human α-N-acetylglucosaminidase coding sequence cDNA) injection. Serum αAAV9-IgG at >1:400 resulted in a >200-fold decrease in vg in the liver, but had no significant effect on vg levels in brain and most of the peripheral tissues. Although tissue NAGLU activities declined significantly, they remained above endogenous levels. Notably, there were higher vg copies but lower NAGLU activity in the spleen in NHPs with >1:400 αAAV9 Abs than in those with ≤1:400 Abs. We demonstrate here the presence of a threshold of pre-existing αAAV9 Abs for diminishing the transduction of i.v.-delivered AAV vectors, supporting the expansion of patient eligibility for systemic rAAV treatments. Our data also indicate that high pre-existing αAAV9 Abs may promote phagocytosis and that phagocytized vectors are not processed for transgene expression, suggesting that effectively suppressing innate immunity may have positive impacts on transduction efficiency in individuals with high Ab titers.
The Case for Energy-Proportional Computing (2007)

Energy-proportional designs would enable large energy savings in servers, potentially doubling their efficiency in real-life use. Achieving energy-proportionality will require significant improvements in the energy usage profile of every system component, particularly the memory and disk subsystems.
Thermal composition fluctuations near the isotropic Lifshitz critical point in a ternary mixture of a homopolymer blend and diblock copolymer (2000)

We have studied thermal composition fluctuations of a ternary symmetric homopolymer/diblock copolymer system of PEE/PDMS/PEE-PDMS [PEE and PDMS being poly(ethyl ethylene) and poly(dimethyl siloxane), respectively] in its disordered state with small angle neutron scattering for concentration Φ of diblocks up to 15%. The phase diagram shows three characteristic regimes; (1) below the Lifshitz concentration ΦLL≅9%; (2) in the very near vicinity of the Lifshitz concentration; and (3) above ΦLL. In the regime (1) of low diblock content the maximum neutron intensity is obtained at Q=0 and phase separation into macroscopic large domains is observed at low temperatures. With increasing diblock content the thermal fluctuations indicate a crossover from 3d-Ising to isotropic Lifshitz critical behavior with critical exponents of the susceptibility γ=(1.62±0.01) and correlation length ν=(0.99±0.04) appreciably larger than in the 3d-Ising case. In the structure factor this crossover is accompanied by a strong reduction of the Q2 term leading to the dominance of the Q4 term; the restoring force of the thermal fluctuations is strongly reduced as the Q2 term is proportional to the surface energy. Near the Lifshitz critical temperature a further crossover was observed leading to the appreciably larger critical exponents γ=(2.44±0.08) and ν=(1.22±0.08) and a stabilization of the disordered regime visible through a decrease of the phase boundary by nearly 10 K. This crossover is interpreted by the formation of fluctuation induced inhomogeneous diblock distribution at the interface of the thermal fluctuations. (2) In the intermediate regime between 9% and 12% diblock content the Lifshitz line was crossed twice upon increasing the temperature from low to high temperatures; at low and high temperatures the structure factor S(Q) shows diblock character (maximum of S(Q) at Q≠0) while at intermediate temperature blendlike character (maximum of S(Q) at Q=0). At low temperatures a transition to a bicontinuous microemulsion phase is proposed. (3) At diblock content of 15% a weak order-disorder transition was observed. The data in the Lifshitz critical range and larger than the Lifshitz line could be interpreted by a recently developed theory of Kielhorn and Muthukumar who considered the effect of thermal fluctuations in ternary homopolymer/diblock copolymer samples and from which the Flory–Huggins parameter could be evaluated.
Mechanisms of peripheral microvascular dysfunction in transgenic mice overexpressing the Alzheimer's disease amyloid Aβ protein (2002)

Freshly prepared soluble amyloid (Abeta) peptide has been reported to have vascular actions both in vitro and in vivo. This study was designed to examine the in vivo microvascular effects of beta in two skin microvascular model systems that might reflect possible short and long-term vascular effects of this peptide. Short-term vascular effects were examined using freshly prepared soluble Abeta(1-40) peptide superfused over naive rat skin microvasculature for 15 min. Peripheral microvascular functional changes in 9-months-old transgenic (Tg) mice overexpressing soluble beta in the brain, peripheral circulation and other tissues, were also examined. Microvascular responses were monitored using laser Doppler flowmetry from the base of a blister raised on the hind footpad of the animals. Endothelial-dependent and independent vasodilatation responses (VD) were examined using acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) respectively. The exposure of naïve rat skin microvasculature to Abeta(1-40) resulted in an immediate vasoconstriction (VC) that prevented ACh but not SNP from inducing a subsequent VD response. The vascular effects of Abeta(1-40) were reversed by antioxidants (superoxide dismutase and catalase) and an endothelin A (ETA) receptor antagonist (BQ-123). Tg mice overexpressing soluble Abeta and C100 showed significant reductions in both endothelial-dependent and endothelial-independent VD that were also reversed by antioxidants and BQ-123. In conclusion, this study provided evidence to support the notion of peripheral vascular effects of Abeta in vivo and present novel evidence for alterations in endothelial and smooth muscle cell function in peripheral skin microvasculature in Tg mice overexpressing Abeta and C100. We suggest that skin microvasculature is a useful model to examine the mechanisms underlying the vascular actions of the Abeta protein.
Expression of CD73/ecto‐5′‐nucleotidase on human gingival fibroblasts and contribution to the inhibition of interleukin‐1α‐induced granulocyte‐macrophage colony stimulating factor production (2003)

These findings suggested that CD73/5'-NT on hGF exerts an anti-inflammatory effects in periodontal disease by conversion from 5'-AMP to adenosine.
Cardiomyopathies: Evolution of pathogenesis concepts and potential for new therapies (2014)

Cardiomyopathies are defined as diseases of the myocardium with associated structural and functional abnormalities. Knowledge of these pathologies for a long period was not clear in clinical practice due to uncertainties regarding definition, classification and clinical diagnosis. In recent decades, major advances have been made in the understanding of the molecular and genetic issues, pathophysiology, and clinical and radiological assessment of the diseases. Progress has been made also in management of several types of cardiomyopathy. Advances in the understanding of these diseases show that cardiomyopathies represent complex entities. Here, special attention is given to evolution of classification of cardiomyopathies, with the aim of assisting clinicians to look beyond schematic diagnostic labels in order to achieve more specific diagnosis. Knowledge of the genotype of cardiomyopathies has changed the pathophysiological understanding of their etiology and clinical course, and has become more important in clinical practice for diagnosis and prevention of cardiomyopathies. New approaches for clinical and prognostic assessment are provided based on contemporary molecular mechanisms of contribution in the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathies. The genotype-phenotype complex approach for assessment improves the clinical evaluation and management strategies of these pathologies. The review covers also the important role of imaging methods, particularly echocardiography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of different types of cardiomyopathies. In summary, this review provides complex presentation of current state of cardiomyopathies from genetics to management aspects for cardiovascular specialists.
Effect of experimental rhinovirus 16 colds on airway hyperresponsiveness to histamine and interleukin‐8 in nasal lavage in asthmatic subjects in vivo (1997)

We conclude that the severity of cold, as induced by experimental RV16 infection, is a determinant of the increase in airway hypersensitivity to histamine in patients with asthma. Our results suggest that this may be mediated by an inflammatory mechanism, involving the release of chemokines such as IL-8.
Intracellular temperature mapping with a fluorescent polymeric thermometer and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (2012)

Cellular functions are fundamentally regulated by intracellular temperature, which influences biochemical reactions inside a cell. Despite the important contributions to biological and medical applications that it would offer, intracellular temperature mapping has not been achieved. Here we demonstrate the first intracellular temperature mapping based on a fluorescent polymeric thermometer and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. The spatial and temperature resolutions of our thermometry were at the diffraction limited level (200 nm) and 0.18-0.58 °C. The intracellular temperature distribution we observed indicated that the nucleus and centrosome of a COS7 cell, both showed a significantly higher temperature than the cytoplasm and that the temperature gap between the nucleus and the cytoplasm differed depending on the cell cycle. The heat production from mitochondria was also observed as a proximal local temperature increase. These results showed that our new intracellular thermometry could determine an intrinsic relationship between the temperature and organelle function.
Miniaturized Flow Fractionation Device Assisted by a Pulsed Electric Field for Nanoparticle Separation (2002)

Electric field flow fractionation (EFFF) is a powerful separation technique based on an electrical field perpendicular to a pressure-driven flow. Previous studies of microelectric field flow fractionation (micro-EFFF) indicate that separation performance was limited due to a weak effective electric field caused by polarization layers on the electrode surfaces. In this work, we report on a micro-EFFF device that uses a pulsed voltage scheme to overcome these limitations. The device was fabricated in indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass with ITO as electrodes. The effective electric field for pulsed voltage operation was found to be 50-fold stronger when compared with constant voltage operation. A strong influence of pulsed voltage frequency on nanoparticle retention times was observed. Using pulsed voltage, improved separation of polystyrene particles of different surface charge and particle size is demonstrated. Pulsed voltage also offers more parameters compared to the constant voltage mode, e.g., pulse frequency, duty cycle, and waveform to optimize the retention behavior of analytes.
New assignment of the adenosine deaminase gene locus to chromosome 20q13 X 11 by study of a patient with interstitial deletion 20q. (1987)

A karyotype 46,XY,del(20)(q11 X 23q13 X 11) was found in a three year old boy with mental and growth retardation, low set ears, broad nasal bridge, and macrostomia. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity was reduced by about 50%, assigning the gene locus to the deleted segment. A review of the previously reported regional assignments suggests that the ADA gene is in the region of band 20q13 X 11.
Genotypic antiretroviral drug resistance testing at low viral loads in the UK (2008)

This audit of current practice in the UK for undertaking genotypic resistance tests at viral loads <1000 copies/mL highlights the widespread use of such testing outside the British HIV Association guidelines.
Tumor necrosis factor-α triggers a cytokine cascade yielding postoperative cognitive decline (2010)

Cognitive decline following surgery in older individuals is a major clinical problem of uncertain mechanism; a similar cognitive decline also follows severe infection, chemotherapy, or trauma and is currently without effective therapy. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed, and exploring the role of inflammation, we recently reported the role of IL-1β in the hippocampus after surgery in mice with postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Here, we show that TNF-α is upstream of IL-1 and provokes its production in the brain. Peripheral blockade of TNF-α is able to limit the release of IL-1 and prevent neuroinflammation and cognitive decline in a mouse model of surgery-induced cognitive decline. TNF-α appears to synergize with MyD88, the IL-1/TLR superfamily common signaling pathway, to sustain postoperative cognitive decline. Taken together, our results suggest a unique therapeutic potential for preemptive treatment with anti-TNF antibody to prevent surgery-induced cognitive decline.
Fibulins 3 and 5 Antagonize Tumor Angiogenesis In vivo (2006)

Lethal tumor growth and progression cannot occur without angiogenesis, which facilitates cancer cell proliferation, survival, and dissemination. Fibulins (FBLN) 5 and 3 are widely expressed extracellular matrix proteins that regulate cell proliferation in a context-specific manner. Reduced FBLN-5 expression has been associated with cancer formation and progression in humans, whereas its constitutive expression antagonizes endothelial cell angiogenic sprouting in vitro. Thus, FBLN-5 may suppress tumorigenesis by preventing tumor angiogenesis. FBLN-3 is homologous to FBLN-5 and expressed in endothelial cells, yet its role in tumorigenesis and angiogenesis is unknown. We find FBLN-3 expression to be altered in some human tumors and that its constitutive expression in endothelial cells inhibited their proliferation, invasion, and angiogenic sprouting, as well as their response to vascular endothelial growth factor as measured by p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. In endothelial cells, both FBLNs (a) reduced angiogenic sprouting stimulated by basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF); (b) inhibited matrix metalloproteinase expression and activity; and (c) stimulated tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase expression. More importantly, both FBLNs prevented angiogenesis and vessel infiltration into bFGF-supplemented Matrigel plugs implanted in genetically normal mice, as well as decreased the growth and blood vessel density in tumors produced by MCA102 fibrosarcoma cells implanted s.c. into syngeneic mice. Our findings establish FBLN-3 and FBLN-5 as novel angiostatic agents capable of reducing tumor angiogenesis and, consequently, tumor growth in vivo and suggest that these angiostatic activities may one day be exploited to combat tumor angiogenesis and metastasis in cancer patients.
High-rate linear space-time codes (2002)

Multiple-antenna systems that operate at high rates require simple yet effective space-time transmission schemes to handle the large traffic volume in real time. V-BLAST, where every antenna transmits its own independent substream of data, has been shown to have good performance and simple encoding and decoding. Yet its drawbacks include its inability to work with fewer receive antennas than transmit antennas, and its absence of built-in spatial coding. On the other hand, there are many previously-proposed space-time codes that have good fading resistance and simple decoding, but generally poor performance at high data rates or with many antennas. We propose a high-rate coding scheme that can handle any configuration of transmit and receive antennas and that subsumes both V-BLAST (Vertical Bell Labs Layered Space-Time) and many proposed space-time codes as special cases. The scheme transmits substreams of data in linear combinations over space and time and the codes are designed to optimize the mutual information between the transmitted and received signals. Because of their linear structure, the codes retain the decoding simplicity of V-BLAST, and because of their information-theoretic optimality, they possess many coding advantages.