gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Integrated optic devices based on nonlinear optical polymers (1991)

An examination is made of the state of the art of nonlinear optical polymeric materials in view of their potential advantages. It is shown that these organic materials have many attractive features compared to LiNbO/sub 3/ and III-V semiconductors with regard to their use in integrated optic circuits, especially since the level of integration is ever increasing. Considering more specifically electro-optic devices, a description is given of some of the theoretical background and basic properties. These polymers have already demonstrated a very high and extremely fast electro-optic effect compared to LiNbO/sub 3/. It is also shown how low-loss waveguides can be fabricated by using easy techniques such as direct UV bleaching. The performance of phase modulators, Mach-Zehnder interferometers, and 2*2 space switches built with such polymers is already very promising.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>
CANINE AND HUMAN LIVER PRESERVATION FOR 6 TO 18 HR BY COLD INFUSION (1977)

Forty-one dog livers were preserved with cold, lactated Ringer's, plasma, or intracellular (Collins) solutions. Consistent survival was obtained with all three solutions for 9 hr. After 18 hr, the plasma and Collins solutions permitted survival, with the Collins solution having a slight overall advantage. The method using Collins solution has been used to preserve seven human livers in Los Angeles, to transport the organs to Denver, and to transport them as orthotopic grafts from 6 hr, 45 min to 10 hr later.
Cytotoxic T cells to type A influenza virus; viral hemagglutinin induces A‐strain specificity while infected cells confer cross‐reactive cytotoxicity (1977)

Abstract This paper deals with the generation and specificity of cytotoxic T cells directed to cells infected with type A influenza viruses. Mice were primed in vivo and their spleen cells restimulated in vitro. Four type A viruses with serologically distinct surface proteins are equally effective in secondary stimulation of cytotoxicity regardless of the viral strain used for priming. The resulting cytotoxic cells will lyse cells infected with any of the 4 type A viruses. Cross‐reactivity between type A and B influenza viruses does not occur. Competition experiments show that the cross‐reactive cytotoxic T cells contain a minor population of cells with increased affinity for the type A virus strain used for priming, but the majority of the cells do not distinguish between the type A virus strains. Virus replication is not required for the secondary generation of cytotoxic T cells; inactivated virus and viral hemagglutinin can serve as stimulators. Hemagglutinin derived from type A/Jap/Bel selects cytotoxic cells with specificity restricted to A/Jap/Bel originally used for priming and A/Jap which shares the hemagglutinin. This secondary stimulation can be achieved only when either of those two type A viruses are used for priming. The results indicate that hemagglutinin is one of the viral proteins recognized by cytotoxic T cells; however, it is not clear which viral protein(s) are responsible for cross‐reactivity.
Purification of the Escherichia coli K5 capsular polysaccharide and use of high‐performance capillary electrophoresis to qualitative and quantitative monitor the process (2004)

A rapid, highly sensitive, and reproducible high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) method (electrokinetic chromatography with sodium dodecyl sulfate) is described for the determination of the polysaccharide from the uropathogenic Escherichia coli K5 bacteria Bi8337/41 010:K5:H4. This natural polysaccharide having the structure of a desulfo-heparin composed of -4)-alphaGlcUA-(1,4)-alpha-GlcNAc-(1- is separated (GlcUA = D-glucuronic acid; GlcNAc = D-glucosamine) and qualitatively and quantitatively determined within 20 min on an uncoated fused-silica capillary using normal polarity at 20 kV and detection at 200 nm. A linear relationship (correlation coefficient > approximately 0.99) was found for the polymer over a wide range of concentrations, from approx. 60 to 1500 ng, with a detection sensitivity of < approximately 60 ng. Furthermore, this qualitative and quantitative HPCE approach was applied to the K5 extraction and purification process from cultured bacteria in several stages. HPCE was also able to separate several molecular species mainly due to the presence of polysaccharides of distinct and increasing mean chain lengths. A linear relationship was found for migration time and log molecular mass of different K5 polysaccharide species, and this model was used to calculate the molecular mass of the main K5 species producing a result of approx. 17,000, also confirmed by high-performance size-exclusion chromatography analysis, yielding approx. 17 200.
Impact of Cytomegalovirus Infection on Organ Transplant Recipients (1990)

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the single most important infectious agent affecting recipients of organ transplants, with at least two-thirds of these patients having CMV infection 1-4 months after transplantation. Latently infected allografts are the major exogenous source of CMV infection in transplant recipients, although leukocyte-containing blood products can also transmit the virus. Three patterns of CMV infection are recognized: primary infection, reactivation infection, and superinfection. Primary infection has the greatest clinical impact. The clinical effects of CMV infection include infectious disease syndromes such as pneumonia and chorioretinitis; an immunosuppressed state that predisposes to potentially lethal opportunistic infection; and the initiation of a process that can result in allograft injury. Progress has been made in controlling CMV infection; hyperimmune anti-CMV globulin and certain antiviral drugs appear promising for prophylaxis, and the combination of hyperimmunoglobulin and ganciclovir appears promising for therapy.
Purification and Characterization of Human Biliverdin Reductase (1993)

Conversion of biliverdin to bilirubin is catalyzed by the cytosolic enzyme biliverdin reductase. We have purified and characterized the human liver reductase and find it to differ extensively from the previously described rat enzyme (H. Fakhrai and M. D. Maines, 1992, J. Biol. Chem. 267, 4023-4029) in its primary structure/composition, yet share kinetic properties. The human enzyme is substantially larger than the rat enzyme (approximately 41,000-42,000 versus 33,000-34,000), is dual cofactor and dual pH dependent, and requires free-SH groups. At pH 6.0-7.0 the NADH was the more effective cofactor, whereas at pH 8.5-8.75 NADPH was the preferred cofactor. The activity was inhibited by-SH reagents, 5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) and p-chloromercuribenzoic acid, and protected from these reagents by cofactors and substrate. On two-dimensional electrophoresis, the purified protein resolved into four distinct isoelectric zones (pI 6.03, 5.83, 5.68, and 5.55) and two molecular weight forms (approximately 40,700 and approximately 39,600). Variants with similar pI values were detected in the purified human kidney reductase, although their relative tissue abundance varied. The tryptic map, amino acid composition, and sequence of NH2 terminus and four tryptic peptides of human reductase were compared with those of the rat. The HPLC profile and amino acid composition of the human and the rat enzymes differed vastly, and two tryptic peptides were present in the human that could not be detected in the predicted amino acid sequence of the rat enzyme. At the same time, the first 21 amino acids of the NH2 terminus of rat and human, except for the substitution of glutamic acid in human for lysine (amino acid 4) in the rat, were found identical and two peptides with 78-87% similarity to the rat reductase were found in the human reductase. Of the seven cysteine residues present in the human, four or five were titratable with 5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid).
AKT activation predicts outcome in breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen (2005)

Oestrogen receptor (ERalpha) expression is a strong predictor of response to endocrine therapy. The PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal transduction pathway has been implicated in endocrine resistance in vitro. The present study was carried out to test the hypothesis that AKT activation mediates tamoxifen resistance in clinical breast cancer. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) using AKT1-3, pan-AKT, pAKT (Thr-308), pAKT (Ser-473), pER (Ser-167), and pHER2 antibodies was performed on 402 ERalpha-positive breast carcinomas from patients treated with tamoxifen. High pAKT (Ser-473) activity (p = 0.0406) and low AKT2 expression (p = 0.0115) alone, or in combination [high pAKT (Ser-473)/low AKT2; 'high-risk' patient group] (p = 0.0014), predicted decreased overall survival in tamoxifen-treated patients with ERalpha-positive breast cancers. There was no significant association between tumour levels of AKT expression or activity and disease-free survival (DFS); however, the 'high-risk' patient group was significantly more likely to relapse (p = 0.0491). During tamoxifen treatment, neither AKT2 nor pAKT predicted DFS. Finally, activation of AKT, via phosphorylation, was linked to activation of both HER2 and ERalpha in this patient cohort. The data presented here show that the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway is associated with relapse and death in ERalpha-positive breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen, supporting in vitro evidence that AKT mediates tamoxifen resistance. Patients with a 'high-risk' expression profile were at increased risk of death (hazard ratio 3.22, p = 0.002) relative to 'low-risk' patients, highlighting the potential that tumour profiling, with multiple IHC markers predictive of therapeutic response, may improve patient selection for endocrine therapies, eg tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitor-based treatments.
The Etiological Agent of Lyme Disease,Borrelia burgdorferi, Appears To Contain Only a Few Small RNA Molecules (2004)

Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) have recently been shown to be the main controllers of several regulatory pathways. The function of sRNAs depends in many cases on the RNA-binding protein Hfq, especially for sRNAs with an antisense function. In this study, the genome of Borrelia burgdorferi was subjected to different searches for sRNAs, including direct homology and comparative genomics searches and ortholog- and annotation-based search strategies. Two new sRNAs were found, one of which showed complementarity to the rpoS region, which it possibly controls by an antisense mechanism. The role of the other sRNA is unknown, although observed complementarities against particular mRNA sequences suggest an antisense mechanism. We suggest that the low level of sRNAs observed in B. burgdorferi is at least partly due to the presumed lack of both functional Hfq protein and RNase E activity.
Nonessentiality of the Active Sulfhydryl Group of Rabbit Muscle Creatine Kinase (1974)

Abstract When rabbit muscle creatine kinase (EC 2.7.3.2) was titrated with methyl methanethiolsulfonate 1 eq of CH3S— was bound per subunit of enzyme as determined by the amount of 14C incorporated. A substantial amount (18 ± 2 %) of residual enzymatic activity was observed under a variety of inactivating conditions. This same amount of residual activity was found when methoxycarbonylmethyl disulfide was used as titrant. This CH3S— blocking group affords total protection against normally completely inactivating iodoacetamide. Full restoration of enzymatic activity was observed upon treatment with β-mercaptoethanol. Model studies indicate that the sulfhydryl group of cysteine itself readily undergoes reaction with these two reagents to yield the expected mixed disulfide product, S-methanethiol-cysteine. The evidence is consistent with the idea that the free, active sulfhydryl group of creatine kinase, thought to be essential to the catalytic mechanism by others, is in fact nonessential.
A ligand for the erbB-2 oncogene product (gp30) induces differentiation of human breast cancer cells. (1992)

The human erbB-2 oncogene encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor. A ligand for the erbB-2 receptor (gp30), with an apparent molecular weight of 30,000, was reported to modulate the growth of cells overexpressing erbB-2. Whereas low concentrations of gp30 induced proliferation of these cells, higher concentrations inhibited their growth. To elucidate the cellular mechanisms underlying cell growth inhibition by gp30, we tested the effect of this ligand on cell growth and differentiation of the human breast cancer cells AU-565 and MDA-MB-453 (which overexpress erbB-2) and MCF-7 cells (which express low levels of this protooncogene). Ligand concentrations that inhibited growth in cells overexpressing erbB-2 induced apparent differentiation of cells with a more mature phenotype, i.e., with characteristics such as inhibited cell growth, altered cytoplasmic and nuclear morphology, and increased synthesis of milk components (casein and lipids). No significant effect of the ligand was observed in the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Concomitant with the induction of differentiation in AU-565 and MDA-MB-453 cells, the erbB-2 protein was translocated from membrane to the cytoplasm and perinuclear sites. These findings indicate that ligand-induced growth inhibition in cells overexpressing erbB-2 is associated with an apparent induction of differentiation.
Multipotent progenitor cells in the adult dentate gyrus (1998)

Neurogenesis persists in the adult dentate gyrus of rodents throughout the life of the organism. The factors regulating proliferation, survival, migration, and differentiation of neuronal progenitors are now being elucidated. Cells from the adult hippocampus can be propagated, cloned in vitro, and induced to differentiate into neurons and glial cells. Cells cultured from the adult rodent hippocampus can be genetically marked and transplanted back to the adult brain, where they survive and differentiate into mature neurons and glial cells. Although multipotent stem cells exist in the adult rodent dentate gyrus, their biological significance remains elusive.
Injurious Loading of Articular Cartilage Compromises Chondrocyte Respiratory Function (2015)

Repeated overloading leads to chondrocyte oxidant-dependent mitochondrial dysfunction. This mitochondrial dysfunction may contribute to destabilization of cartilage during various stages of OA in distinct ways by disrupting chondrocyte anabolic responses to mechanical stimuli.
Molecular weight and secondary structure change in eri silk during alkali degumming and powdering (2010)

Abstract Changes in molecular weight and secondary structure of eri silk during alkali degumming and silk powdering were studied. An increase in silk degumming intensity, through increased alkali concentration, treatment temperature, and time, reduced the fibroin molecular weight and, therefore, the fiber tenacity, but at the same time, increased the β‐sheet fraction. These changes reduced the time required to mill the degummed silk fibers into fine powders. Mechanical forces used in wet attritor and air jet milling disturbed intermolecular packing along the direction of side chains, but the conformation remained essentially β‐sheet even in the sub‐micron silk particles. Dry milling drastically reduced molecular weight and changed the conformation of the fibroin chains. The rate of the spontaneous conformation transition in regenerated fibroin solution prepared from fibers and powders increased with a decrease in fibroin molecular weight, affecting the time fibroin solutions could be stored before gelling. Overall, the study showed that molecular weight and secondary structure of silk powders could be manipulated by suitably changing the degumming and milling conditions. It also suggests that wet media milling and air jet milling are better than dry media milling to prepare less degraded and more crystalline ultrafine silk particles. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011
Amino Acid Biosynthesis and its Regulation (1978)

The Hippo pathway was initially discovered in Drosophila melanogaster as a key regulator of tissue growth. It is an evolutionarily conserved signaling cascade regulating numerous biological processes, including cell growth and fate decision, organ size ...Read More
De novo bile salt transporter antibodies as a possible cause of recurrent graft failure after liver transplantation (2009)

Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 2 (PFIC-2) is caused by mutations of the bile salt export pump (BSEP [ABCB11]), an ATP-binding cassette (ABC)-transporter exclusively expressed at the canalicular membrane of hepatocytes. An absence of BSEP from the canalicular membrane causes cholestasis and leads to liver cirrhosis, which may necessitate liver transplantation in early childhood. We report on the first case of a child with PFIC-2 suffering from repeated posttransplant recurrence of progressive intrahepatic cholestasis due to autoantibodies against BSEP. These antibodies occurred after transplantation and were detected in the patient's serum and at the canalicular membrane of two consecutive liver transplants. The antibodies were reactive toward the first extracellular loop of BSEP, were of high affinity, and inhibited transport activity of BSEP, thus causing severe cholestasis. The patient had three homozygous, missense changes in the BSEP gene. Their combination resulted in the complete absence of BSEP, which explains the lack of tolerance, a prerequisite of autoantibody formation toward BSEP. The findings illustrate a novel disease mechanism due to a new class of functionally relevant autoantibodies resulting in cholestasis and subsequent liver failure.
Diffusion imaging of whole, post-mortem human brains on a clinical MRI scanner (2011)

Diffusion imaging of post mortem brains has great potential both as a reference for brain specimens that undergo sectioning, and as a link between in vivo diffusion studies and "gold standard" histology/dissection. While there is a relatively mature literature on post mortem diffusion imaging of animals, human brains have proven more challenging due to their incompatibility with high-performance scanners. This study presents a method for post mortem diffusion imaging of whole, human brains using a clinical 3-Tesla scanner with a 3D segmented EPI spin-echo sequence. Results in eleven brains at 0.94 × 0.94 × 0.94 mm resolution are presented, and in a single brain at 0.73 × 0.73 × 0.73 mm resolution. Region-of-interest analysis of diffusion tensor parameters indicate that these properties are altered compared to in vivo (reduced diffusivity and anisotropy), with significant dependence on post mortem interval (time from death to fixation). Despite these alterations, diffusion tractography of several major tracts is successfully demonstrated at both resolutions. We also report novel findings of cortical anisotropy and partial volume effects.
Cholesterol Crystal Embolization (2006)

of toes), strongly suggests this disease. Biopsy of the skin or the kidney demonstrates cholesterol crystals, biconvex, needle-shaped clefts whitin the occluded vessel. These intraluminal lesions are often accompanied by a perivascular inflammatory reaction that may contain eosinophils [2] . The reported incidence of renal atheroembolic disease during the last 10 years seems to have increased by several reasons, such as the increased longevity of patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease that may explain the increase in the number of invasive vascular procedures and the generalized use of anticoagulants and thrombolytics [3] . In fact, cholesterol crystal embolism has been described not only in native kidneys, but also in renal allografts and in dialysis patients [1] . Piccoli et al. [4] present in this issue cholesterol crystal embolism in 6 dialysis patients, the largest experience published [4] . All patients had severe atherosclerosis, 5 had ischemic heart disease, and 4 patients had received a renal transplant, 1 of them three grafts. Interestingly, in 3 cases a precipitating factor was present, and in the other 3 patients cholesterol crystal embolization developed spontaneously. Skin manifestations were the key for the diagnosis, particularly livedo reticularis and necrotic lesions in legs, toes, and feet. Notably, steroid treatment (with prostaglandin analogs in 4 cases) was successful in the short term, although 1 patient died of sepsis, and another needed amputation performed over the knee 6 months later. From this interesting article, several points of interest should be considered. First, cholesterol crystal embolization is also a potential complication in dialysis patients, Cholesterol crystal embolization, also called atheroembolism or atheroembolic renal disease, is still an underdiagnosed entity. Atheroembolic renal disease is caused by cholesterol crystals from an atherosclerotic aorta and is a particularly severe ulcerated plaque atherosclerosis that occludes small renal arteries. The kidney is frequently involved because of the proximity of the renal arteries to the abdominal aorta. Cholesterol crystal embolization can also occur in many anatomic sites, including skin, liver, heart, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, spleen, prostate, penis, testes, bladder, spinal cord, intracerebral vessels, retina, subcutaneous tissue, and skeletal muscle. Therefore, cholesterol crystal embolization has been considered a multisystemic disease [1–3] . Although cholesterol crystal embolization can occur spontaneously (in around 20% of the cases), it characteristically appears after an invasive vascular procedure, such as manipulation of the aorta or other large arteries during arteriography, angioplasty, or surgery. It can also occur after anticoagulant and thrombolytic treatment. The same risk factors as for atherosclerosis, such as male sex, age
Evaluation of Fibrin Seal in Animal Experiments (1982)

This paper presents experimental investigations to evaluate fibrin seal for bleeding control under systemic heparinization as well as some of the benefits and limits of fibrin-presealing vascular prostheses. Local hemostasis using fibrin seal plus collagen fleece was achieved in 3 standardized sources of bleeding produced in mongrel dogs under full heparinization. Water porosity was measured in 3 standard prosthetic materials of different porosity. It could be shown that all graft types investigated were sufficiently sealed up to a pressure of 600 mmHg. The influence of fibrinolysis on the stability of the fibrin network in vascular grafts was tested by in vitro experiments using urokinase incubation. While water permeability increased in fibrin-sealed fabric without aprotinin added, no fibrinolysis-induced leakage was observed in those exposed to aprotinin. Surface thrombogenicity of the fibrin-sealed grafts was higher than in blood-preclotted prostheses, if not rinsed with isotonic saline. After rinsing, thrombogenicity decreased below values obtained in grafts preclotted conventionally. Survival studies in animals show no difference between blood-preclotted and fibrin-presealed prostheses both 3 and 7 days after implantation.