gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Possible Role of Vasopressin in the Thermoregulatory Response to Chlorpyrifos in the Rat (2002)

Arginine vasopressin is a naturally occurring antipyretic which is released into the CNS to prevent excessive elevations in body temperature during fever. Circulating levels of arginine vasopressin may also have a role in the tonic control of body temperature. We have found that the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos will raise blood pressure and lower body temperature in the rat. Because arginine vasopressin is a potent hypertensive agent and is capable of lowering core temperature, we suspected that arginine vasopressin may be involved in the thermoregulatory response to chlorpyrifos. To this end, core temperature and motor activity of male and female Sprague-Dawely rats were monitored before and after treatment with the corn oil vehicle or chlorpyrifos (15 mg/kg in females; 30 mg/kg in males; oral) concomitant with injection of a saline vehicle or a type 1 arginine vasopressin antagonist (20 microg/kg in females; 30 microg/kg in males; intraperitoneally). Rats dosed with chlorpyrifos and saline underwent a 2-3 degrees reduction in core temperature >50% decrease in motor activity. The V1 antagonist attenuated the hypothermic effect of chlorpyrifos in both sexes. Chlorpyrifos-induced inhibition in motor activity was unaffected by the V1 antagonist. In another experiment, the V1 antagonist (30 microg/kg) was co-administered with saline or 0.2 mg/kg oxotremorine, a muscarinic agonist that stimulates a heat loss response and partially mimics the effects of chlorpyrifos. The V1 antagonist attenuated the hypothermic effect of oxotremorine in both sexes. Plasma arginine vasopressin levels were determined in male rats 3 hr after corn oil or 30 mg/kg chlorpyrifos. There was no significant effect of chlorpyrifos on plasma levels of arginine vasopressin. That the V1 antagonist blocked the hypothermic effect of chlorpyrifos suggests that the thermoregulatory response to chlorpyrifos is mediated by central and/or systemic vasopressin release. The lack of a significant increase in plasma vasopressin after chlorpyrifos suggests that localized release of vasopressin may be involved in the thermoregulatory response to chlorpyrifos.
A Distributed Autonomous-Agent Network-Intrusion Detection and Response System (1998)

We propose a distributed architecture with autonomous agents to monitor security-related activity within a network. Each agent operates cooperatively yet independently of the others, providing for efficiency, real-time response and distribution of resources. This architecture provides significant advantages in scalability, flexibility, extensibility, fault tolerance, and resistance to compromise. We also propose a scheme of escalating levels of alertness, and a way to notify other agents on other computers in a network of attacks so they can take preemptive or reactive measures. We designed a neural network to measure and determine alert threshold values. A communication protocol is proposed to relay these alerts throughout the network. We illustrate our design with a detailed scenario. This paper appeared in the Procedings of the 1998 Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium, Monterey CA, June-July 1998.
Variable-aperture Photography (2009)

Abstract—In this paper, we consider the problem of imaging a scene with a given depth of field at a given exposure level in the shortest amount of time possible. We show that by 1) collecting a sequence of photos and 2) controlling the aperture, focus, and exposure time of each photo individually, we can span the given depth of field in less total time than it takes to expose a single narrower-aperture photo. Using this as a starting point, we obtain two key results. First, for lenses with continuously variable apertures, we derive a closed-form solution for the globally optimal capture sequence, i.e., that collects light from the specified depth of field in the most efficient way possible. Second, for lenses with discrete apertures, we derive an integer programming problem whose solution is the optimal sequence. Our results are applicable to off-the-shelf cameras and typical photography conditions, and advocate the use of dense, wide-aperture photo sequences as a light-efficient alternative to single-shot, narrow-aperture photography. Index Terms—Computational photography, computer vision, computer graphics, shape-from-focus. Ç
Overexpression of the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+-ATPase Improves Myocardial Contractility in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy (2002)

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is characterized by reduced cardiac contractility due to direct changes in heart muscle function independent of vascular disease. An important contributor to contractile dysfunction in the diabetic state is an impaired sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) function, leading to disturbed intracellular calcium handling. We investigated whether overexpression of the SR calcium pump (SERCA2a) in transgenic mice could reduce the impact of diabetes on the development of cardiomyopathy. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin injection (200 mg/kg), and left ventricular (LV) function was analyzed in isolated hearts 3 weeks later. In diabetic hearts systolic LV pressure was decreased by 15% and maximum speed of relaxation (-dP/dt) by 34%. Functional changes were also assessed in isolated papillary muscles. Active force was reduced by 61% and maximum speed of relaxation by 65% in the diabetic state. The contractile impairment was accompanied by a 30% decrease in SERCA2a protein in diabetic mice. We investigated whether increased SERCA2a expression in transgenic SERCA2a-overexpressing mice could compensate for the diabetes-induced decrease in cardiac function. Under normal conditions, SERCA2a overexpressors show improved contractile performance relative to wild-type (WT) mice (-dP/dt: 3,169 vs. 2,559 mmHg/s, respectively). Measurement of LV function in hearts from diabetic SERCA2a mice revealed systolic and diastolic functions that were similar to WT control mice and markedly improved relative to diabetic WT mice (-dP/dt: 2,534 vs. 1,690 mmHg/s in diabetic SERCA2a vs. diabetic WT mice, respectively). Similarly, the contractile behavior of isolated papillary muscles from diabetic SERCA2a mice was not different from that of control mice. SERCA2a protein expression was higher (60%) in diabetic SERCA2a mice than WT diabetic mice. These results indicate that overexpression of SERCA2a can protect diabetic hearts from severe contractile dysfunction, presumably by improving the calcium sequestration of the SR.
Configuration of distributed time-critical fieldbus systems (2002)

Summary form only given. Fieldbus is the generic term given to a digital communication system linking field devices and control systems in industrial plants. The OLCHFA (open, low-cost, time-critical, wireless fieldbus architecture) project, addresses three industrial needs: wireless data communication, time-critical communication and easy network configuration and management. The development includes the design and manufacture of prototype fieldbus nodes incorporating custom hardware to assist fieldbus-wide clock synchronisation as well as communication protocol processing based upon the French national standard fieldbus FIP. To ease configuration and set-up of the OLCHFA network, a graphical configuration tool has been developed, CONTOUR (configuration tool for the OLCHFA fieldbus system with graphical user interface). This tool provides the facility to define the network by simply attaching stations to the bus and then setting the relevant parameters. Default values are offered wherever possible. Special care has also been taken for the parameterization of variables, which are the central communication objects in the OLCHFA fieldbus.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>
Back pain prevalence in US industry and estimates of lost workdays. (1999)

This study provides statistically reliable national estimates of the prevalence of back pain among workers and the enormous effect of this condition on American industry in terms of lost workdays.
Low-temperature atomic force microscopy (1988)

A low-temperature atomic force microscope (LTAFM) has been constructed which is capable of resolving atomic scale features both in air at room temperature and immersed in liquid helium at 4.2 K. The instrument is of a rigid compact design, using microfabricated force-sensing cantilevers, and can easily be adapted for operation as a scanning tunneling microscope. Initial results have demonstrated that the LTAFM can image the atomic surface structure of 2H–MoS2 at 4.2 K and room temperature. Design criteria and applications of the LTAFM are discussed.
HEMORRHAGIC RECURRENCE OF NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION NOT PREDICTED BY SPECTRAL DOMAIN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY (2010)

Hemorrhagic exudation from choroidal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration may occur suddenly, even in the absence of fluid detected by spectral domain optical coherence tomography.
The STRO-1+ Marrow Cell Population Is Multipotential (2001)

Human marrow-derived STRO-1+ cells were tested for their ability to differentiate into multiple mesenchymal phenotypes. STRO-1+ cells were isolated from long-term cultures of human marrow cells by magnetic immunobeads linked to the antibody STRO-1. Stromal layers generated from STRO-1+ cells, when cocultured without exogenous cytokines for several weeks with CD34+/CD38+ and CD34+/CD38low cells, were able to induce a 10- to 20-fold increase in colony-forming units, and to sustain cobblestone area colony-forming cells with a distinct time course for the different hematopoietic precursors. A myofibroblastic and adipocytic phenotype was observed in hematopoiesis-supportive stromal cells, as shown by electron microscopy and staining of lipids with Nile red. The adipocytic potential of STRO-1+ cells was further demonstrated by flow cytometry of Nile red O-stained cells cultured in adipocyte-induced medium. The same population of STRO-1+ cells cultured in osteoblast-inducing medium was shown to have osteogenic potential, as demonstrated in vitro by the formation of mineral (von Kossa staining), and in vivo by the formation of bone tissue within porous calcium phosphate ceramics implanted into athymic mice. This population of STRO-1+ cells was also shown to have chondrogenic potential in aggregate cultures which displayed a morphologic appearance of cartilage and stained positively with antibodies specific to type II and type X collagens. These results show that the subset of marrow cells that express the STRO-1 antigen is capable of differentiating into multiple mesenchymal lineages including hematopoiesis-supportive stromal cells with a vascular smooth muscle-like phenotype, adipocytes, osteoblasts and chondrocytes.
Molecular, Biochemical, and Functional Characterization of a Nudix Hydrolase Protein That Stimulates the Activity of a Nicotinoprotein Alcohol Dehydrogenase (2002)

The cytoplasmic coenzyme NAD(+)-dependent alcohol (methanol) dehydrogenase (MDH) employed by Bacillus methanolicus during growth on C(1)-C(4) primary alcohols is a decameric protein with 1 Zn(2+)-ion and 1-2 Mg(2+)-ions plus a tightly bound NAD(H) cofactor per subunit (a nicotinoprotein). Mg(2+)-ions are essential for binding of NAD(H) cofactor in MDH protein expressed in Escherichia coli. The low coenzyme NAD(+)-dependent activity of MDH with C(1)-C(4) primary alcohols is strongly stimulated by a second B. methanolicus protein (ACT), provided that MDH contains NAD(H) cofactor and Mg(2+)-ions are present in the assay mixture. Characterization of the act gene revealed the presence of the highly conserved amino acid sequence motif typical of Nudix hydrolase proteins in the deduced ACT amino acid sequence. The act gene was successfully expressed in E. coli allowing purification and characterization of active ACT protein. MDH activation by ACT involved hydrolytic removal of the nicotinamide mononucleotide NMN(H) moiety of the NAD(H) cofactor of MDH, changing its Ping-Pong type of reaction mechanism into a ternary complex reaction mechanism. Increased cellular NADH/NAD(+) ratios may reduce the ACT-mediated activation of MDH, thus preventing accumulation of toxic aldehydes. This represents a novel mechanism for alcohol dehydrogenase activity regulation.
Heart rate recovery after exercise and neural regulation of heart rate variability in 30-40 year old female marathon runners. (2005)

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of endurance training on heart rate (HR) recovery after exercise and cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) modulation in female marathon runners by comparing with untrained controls. Six female marathon runners (M group) aged 32-40 years and eight age-matched untrained females (C group) performed a maximum-effort treadmill running exercise. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) was measured during the exercise with a gas analyzer connected to subjects through a face mask. Heart rate, blood pressure and blood lactate were measured before and after the exercise. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) to the exercise was obtained immediately after the exercise. Holter ECG was recorded and analyzed with power spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) to investigate the cardiac ANS modulation. The M group had significantly higher VO2max, faster HR recovery after exercise, higher Mean RR, SDRR, HF power and lower LF/HF ratio at rest compared with the C group. The M group also presented greater percent decrease of blood pressure after exercise, although their blood pressure after exercise was higher than the C group. It is suggested that endurance training induced significant alterations in cardiac ANS modulation at rest and significant acceleration of HR recovery after exercise in female marathon runners. Faster HR recovery after exercise in the female marathon runners should result from their higher levels of HRV, higher aerobic capacity and exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise compared with untrained controls. Key PointsThe effects of endurance training on HR recovery after exercise and cardiac ANS modulation were investigated in female marathon runners by comparing with untrained controls.Time and frequency domain analysis of HRV was used to investigate cardiac ANS modulation.As compared with untrained controls, the female marathon runners showed faster HR recovery after exercise, which should result from their higher levels of HRV, higher aerobic capacity and exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise.
Intent-aware Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning (2018)

This paper proposes an intent-aware multi-agent planning framework as well as a learning algorithm. Under this framework, an agent plans in the goal space to maximize the expected utility. The planning process takes the belief of other agents' intents into consideration. Instead of formulating the learning problem as a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP), we propose a simple but effective linear function approximation of the utility function. It is based on the observation that for humans, other people's intents will pose an influence on our utility for a goal. The proposed framework has several major advantages: i) it is computationally feasible and guaranteed to converge. ii) It can easily integrate existing intent prediction and low-level planning algorithms. iii) It does not suffer from sparse feedbacks in the action space. We experiment our algorithm in a real-world problem that is non-episodic, and the number of agents and goals can vary over time. Our algorithm is trained in a scene in which aerial robots and humans interact, and tested in a novel scene with a different environment. Experimental results show that our algorithm achieves the best performance and human-like behaviors emerge during the dynamic process.
The interaction between NK cells and dendritic cells in bacterial infections results in rapid induction of NK cell activation and in the lysis of uninfected dendritic cells (2003)

NK and DC reciprocal interactions have only recently been investigated. In this study, we focused on the interplay between NK cells and DC in two models of bacterial infection. Immature monocyte-derived DC were cultured in the presence of live Escherichia coli or bacillus Calmette-Guérin. Upon exposure to either extracellular or intracellular bacteria, DC underwent maturation as assessed by the increased levels of expression of CD80,CD86, and HLA molecules and the de novo expression of CD83 and CCR7. Significant amounts of TNF-alpha and IL-12 were released by DC upon infection, whereas IL-2 and IL-15 were barely detectable in culture supernatants. Both infected and uninfected DC were capable of inducing in fresh autologous NK cells the expression of CD69 and HLA-DR and of inducing cell proliferation. Remarkably, however, infected DC were much stronger inducers of NK cell activation and proliferation than uninfected DC. Thus, after just 24 h of NK/DC coculture, only those NK cells that had been exposed to bacteria-infected DC had acquired the ability to lyse autologous immature DC. In addition, infected DC were more resistant to NK-mediated lysis as a consequence of the up-regulation of HLA class I molecule expression on their surface. This study suggests a regulatory circuit involving NK cells and DC in which DC-induced NK cell activation is effectively enhanced by the presence of pathogens. Activated NK cells, by limiting the supply of immature DC, may then exert a control on subsequent innate and adaptive immune responses.
Ground roll attenuation using the S and x‐f‐k transforms (2007)

ABSTRACT Ground roll, which is characterized by low frequency and high amplitude, is an old seismic data processing problem in land‐based seismic acquisition. Common techniques for ground roll attenuation are frequency filtering, f‐k or velocity filtering and a type of f‐k filtering based on the time‐offset windowed Fourier transform. These techniques assume that the seismic signal is stationary. In this study we utilized the S, x‐f‐k and t‐f‐k transforms as alternative methods to the Fourier transform. The S transform is a type of time‐frequency transform that provides frequency‐dependent resolution while maintaining a direct relationship with the Fourier spectrum. Application of a filter based on the S transform to land seismic shot records attenuates ground roll in a time‐frequency domain. The t‐f‐k and x‐f‐k transforms are approaches to localize the apparent velocity panel of a seismic record in time and offset domains, respectively. These transforms provide a convenient way to define offset or time‐varying reject zones on the separate f‐k panel at different offsets or times.
SPARC is a source of copper-binding peptides that stimulate angiogenesis. (1994)

SPARC is a transiently expressed extracellular matrix-binding protein that alters cell shape and regulates endothelial cell proliferation in vitro. In this study, we show that SPARC mRNA and protein are synthesized by endothelial cells during angiogenesis in vivo. SPARC and peptides derived from a cationic region of the protein (amino acids 113-130) stimulated the formation of endothelial cords in vitro; moreover, these peptides stimulated angiogenesis in vivo. Mapping of the active domain demonstrated that the sequence KGHK was responsible for most of the angiogenic activity; substitution of the His residue decreased the effect. We found that proteolysis of SPARC provided a source of KGHK, GHK, and longer peptides that contained these sequences. Although the Cu(2+)-GHK complex had been identified as a mitogen/morphogen in normal human plasma, we found KGHK and longer peptides to be potent stimulators of angiogenesis. SPARC113-130 and KGHK were shown to bind Cu2+ with high affinity; however, previous incubation with Cu2+ was not required for the stimulatory activity. Since a peptide from a second cationic region of SPARC (SPARC54-73) also bound Cu2+ but had no effect on angiogenesis, the angiogenic activity appeared to be sequence specific and independent of bound Cu2+. Thus, specific degradation of SPARC, a matrix-associated protein expressed by endothelial cells during vascular remodeling, releases a bioactive peptide or peptides, containing the sequence (K)GHK, that could regulate angiogenesis in vivo.
Expansion and Characterization of Human Melanoma Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) (2010)

TILs generally expanded efficiently and tumor reactivity could be detected in vitro. These preclinical data from melanoma TILs lay the groundwork for clinical trials of ACT.
Lower-Category Benign Breast Disease and the Risk of Invasive Breast Cancer (2004)

The Breast Cancer Prevention Trial of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project follows 11,307 healthy women who are at increased risk for breast cancer. The participants were randomly assigned to receive prophylactic tamoxifen or placebo for 5 years and to undergo regular follow-up studies. From this group, the authors have identified 1376 women who were diagnosed with benign breast disease, which had a pathologic classification of 1 or 2. These are the least serious in the College of American Pathologists classification of benign breast disease and include adenosis, ductal ectasia, fibroadenoma, fibrosis mastitis, mild hyperplasia without atypia, ordinary cysts, simple apocrine metaplasia, squamous metaplasia, moderate or florid hyperplasia without atypia, sclerosing adenosis, and solitary papilloma without coexistent atypical hyperplasia. In the group of 1376 women with lower-category benign breast disease (LC-BBD), 47 have been diagnosed with breast cancer, yielding an average annual breast cancer diagnosis rate of 7.20 per 1000 for these women. Among 9931 women in the breast cancer project who did not have LC-BBD, 291 developed breast cancer, resulting in an average annual rate of 4.40 per 1000. The relative risk for breast cancer in women with LC-BBD was 1.60 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-2.19) compared with those without LC-BBD. Older women (over 50 years of age) had an annual rate of breast cancer of 8.46 per 1000 for those with LC-BBD and 4.28 per 1000 for those without LC-BBD (relative risk [RR], 1.95; 95% CI, 1.29-2.93). Younger women (under 50 years of age) with and without LC-BBD had average annual breast cancer rates per 1000 of 5.99 and 4.62, respectively (RR, 1.26; 95% CI, 0.78-2.05). Tamoxifen afforded women some protection against breast cancer. Among women with LC-BBD, those who took tamoxifen developed breast cancer at an annual rate of 6.30 per 1000 compared with 8.04 per 1000 for those who took placebo. Women without breast disease had annual rates of 3.52 per 1000 in the tamoxifen group and 5.43 per 1000 in the placebo group. The relative risk of breast cancer in the LC-BBD group was 1.46 (95% CI, 0.97-2.21) among women taking tamoxifen and 1.69 (95% CI, 1.05-2.73) for those taking placebo. A benign breast cyst was the most common diagnosis in the LC-BBD group, accounting for half of all cases. The average annual rate of breast cancer for women with cysts was 8.07 per 1000 (adjusted RR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.07-2.4).