gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Inhibitory interactions in the human vision system revealed in pattern‐evoked potentials. (1987)

1. Visual evoked potentials (v.e.p.s) were recorded from human adults to investigate orientation-specific neural interactions. The stimuli were the sum of two gratings, sinusoidally modulated in space and time at different frequencies. Recordings were made for one grating (test) alone, and with another superimposed grating (mask), oriented parallel or orthogonal to the test. The amplitude and phase of the v.e.p.s at twice the test modulation frequency (second harmonic) was measured as a function of test contrast to produce contrast-response curves. 2. Orthogonal masks attenuated considerably the amplitude of v.e.p.s. The attenuation at any given contrast was approximately proportional, or multiplicative, lowering the slope of the contrast-response curve, without affecting significantly the extrapolated threshold. Parallel masks also attenuated v.e.p. amplitudes but in a different way, leaving the slope of the contrast-response curves unchanged, while elevating threshold. 3. The attenuation by orthogonal masks occurred over a wide range of test spatial frequencies, from 0.8 to 8 cycles/deg. For any given test spatial frequency, the most effective masks were those of spatial frequency similar to or lower than the test. Masks of spatial frequency 1.5 octaves higher than the test did not attenuate v.e.p. amplitudes. 4. The mask temporal frequency for maximal attenuation of v.e.p. amplitude was around 12 Hz, with stationary masks having little effect. 5. Under most conditions, the phase of the second harmonic of the v.e.p., increased with increasing contrast (phase advance). Superimposition of a parallel mask abolished phase advance, while orthogonal masks increased it. 6. Comparisons with single cortical unit and evoked potential recordings in cats suggest that the attenuation by orthogonal masks reflects intracortical inhibitory interactions between cell populations of different orientation preference.
The WUSCHEL gene is required for shoot and floral meristem integrity in Arabidopsis (1996)

Self perpetuation of the shoot meristem is essential for the repetitive initiation of shoot structures during plant development. In Arabidopsis shoot meristem maintenance is disrupted by recessive mutations in the WUSCHEL (WUS) gene. The defect is evident at all developmental stages and is restricted to shoot and floral meristems, whereas the root meristem is not affected. wus mutants fail to properly organize a shoot meristem in the embryo. Postembryonically, defective shoot meristems are initiated repetitively but terminate prematurely in aberrant flat structures. In contrast to wild-type shoot meristems, primordia initiation occurs ectopically across mutant apices, including the center, and often new shoot meristems instead of organs are initiated. The cells of wus shoot apices are larger and more vacuolated than wild-type shoot meristem cells. wus floral meristems terminate prematurely in a central stamen. Double mutant studies indicate that the number of organ primordia in the center of wus flowers is limited, irrespective of organ identity and we propose that meristem cells are allocated into floral whorl domains in a sequential manner. WUS activity also appears to be required for the formation of supernumerary organs in the center of agamous, superman or clavata1 flowers, suggesting that the WUS gene acts upstream of the corresponding genes. Our results suggest that the WUS gene is specifically required for central meristem identity of shoot and floral meristems to maintain their structural and functional integrity.
An epichromatin epitope: persistence in the cell cycle and conservation in evolution. (2012)

Interphase nuclear architecture is disrupted and rapidly reformed with each cell division cycle. Successive cell generations exhibit a "memory" of this nuclear architecture, as well as for gene expression. Furthermore, many features of nuclear and mitotic chromosome structure are recognizably species and tissue specific. We wish to know what properties of the underlying chromatin structure may determine these conserved features of nuclear architecture. Employing a particular mouse autoimmune anti-nucleosome monoclonal antibody (PL2-6), combined with deconvolution immunofluorescence microscopy, we present evidence for a unique epitope (involving a ternary complex of histones H2A and H2B and DNA) which is localized only at the exterior chromatin surface of interphase nuclei and mitotic chromosomes in mammalian, invertebrate and plant systems. As only the surface chromatin region is identified with antibody PL2-6, we have assigned it the name "epichromatin". We describe an "epichromatin hypothesis", suggesting that epichromatin may have a unique evolutionary conserved conformation which facilitates interaction with the reforming post-mitotic nuclear envelope and a rapid return of interphase nuclear architecture.
Quantitative analysis of cytomegalovirus load using a real-time PCR assay (2000)

A novel real-time PCR assay system was developed to quantify the cytomegalovirus (CMV) genome load. The real-time PCR assay could detect from 6 to over 10(6) copies of CMV-DNA with a wide linear range. The virus load of immunocompromised patients with symptomatic CMV infections was quantified and compared to that of asymptomatic ones. In symptomatic patients, all 17 peripheral blood leukocytes were positive for CMV DNA, and its mean value was 10(3.3) copies/10(6) cells. On the other hand, only 9 of 38 samples (24%) were positive in the asymptomatic patients, and its mean titer was lower (10(2.0) copies/10(6) cells) than that of the symptomatic group (P = 0.002). In plasma, the virus genome was detected in 13 out of 17 samples from symptomatic patients (76%), and its mean value was 10(4.0) copies/ml. In contrast, for the asymptomatic group, only one out of 36 samples were positive (3%). Finally, this system was used to monitor two patients with CMV infections serially. The CMV DNA copy number changed with their clinical symptoms and anti-CMV therapy, and virtually paralleled the result of the pp65 antigenemia assay in both cases. In one patient with the cord blood transplantation, however, the CMV DNA became positive faster than the antigenemia assay. These results indicate that this assay is sensitive and useful for estimating the CMV genome load not only in peripheral blood leukocytes but also in plasma. It can be very helpful for diagnosing CMV-related diseases and monitoring the virus load in patients with CMV infections.
[P‐122]: Regional cerebral metabolism in PSAPP double‐transgenic mice changes with age and genotype (2005)

While transgenic mice hold great promise in the study of AD, uncertainties remain about the extent to which they model the disorder and how best to characterize its progression. Using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) autoradiography, we found very old homozygous PDAPP transgenic mice have preferentially and progressively reduced activity in posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex, similar to PET results in persons affected by AD or at genetic risk. However, the PDAPP mice have a significant white matter abnormality (i.e., a truncated corpus callosum), which may confound normal brain structure/function and preclude their use in in vivo metabolic imaging studies. If another model of AD demonstrates significant declines in regional metabolic activity, absent morphological abnormalities, it may be possible to track progression of such and screen candidate treatments more efficiently. To assess cerebral metabolic measures in double-transgenic PS1 x TG2576APP (PSAPP) mice, which do not have pronounced white matter alterations. Cytochrome oxidase (CytOx) histochemistry was used to compare regional/whole brain activity in PSAPP mice and controls at 4 and 16 months of age. As each age was analyzed separately, within-age t-tests were first performed, followed by a genotype x age omnibus ANOVA. Learning/memory circuits including the interconnected hippocampal subiculum, posterior cingulate, and anteroventral thalamic nucleus were decreased significantly in the older mice while only the anteroventral thalamus showed a decline in the younger animals. Young PSAPP transgenic mice showed significant alterations in CytOx activity, primarily increases, in several primary and secondary sensory and striatal areas; older mice showed changes in similar circuits, with some overlap of specificROIs, possibly correlating with behavioral hyperarousal displayedby these mice at both ages. In the omnibus ANOVA, across ages, many of these changes remained prominent. No significant differences between whole brain metabolism or white matter readings indicated that changes were localized to specific ROIs. These results are currently being extended with FDG autoradiography. Four-month-old PSAPP mice demonstrate a relatively light amyloid load compared to 16-month-old mice; progression of select regional cerebral metabolic changes may occur in kind, potentially increasing the usefulness of this model of AD in clarifying disease mechanisms and screening candidate treatments.
Somatic mutations of the APC gene in colorectal tumors: mutation cluster region in the APC gene (1992)

We examined somatic mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coil (APC) gene in 63 colorectal tumors (16 adenomas and 47 carcinomas) developed in familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and non-FAP patients. In addition to loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the APC locus in 30 tumors, 43 other somatic mutations were detected. Twenty-one of them were point mutations; 16 nonsense and two missense mutations, and three occurred in introns at the splicing site. Twenty-two tumors had frameshift mutations due to deletion or insertion; nineteen of them were deletions of one to 31 bp and three were a 1-bp insertion. One tumor had a 1-bp deletion in an intron near the splicing site. Hence, 41 (95%) of 43 mutations resulted in truncation of the APC protein. Over 60% of the somatic mutations in the APC gene were clustered within a small region of exon 15, designated as MCR (mutation cluster region), which accounted for less than 10% of the coding region. Combining these data and the results of LOH, more than 80% of tumors (14 adenomas and 39 carcinomas) had at least one mutation in the APC gene, of which more than 60% (9 adenomas and 23 carcinomas) had two mutations. These results strongly suggest that somatic mutations of the APC gene are associated with development of a great majority of colorectal tumors.
Occlusion-aware menu design for digital tabletops (2009)

In this paper, we describe the design of menus for multi-user digital tabletops. On direct input surfaces, occlusions created by the user's hand decrease interaction performance with menus. The key design criteria are to avoid these occlusions and to adapt the menu placement to the user's handedness and position on the tabletop. We present an adaptive menu placement method based on direct touch and pen tracking that allows correct menu placement around the table. As an extension, we propose adding a gesture input area for fast interaction which can be partly occluded by the user's hand.
Animal Models of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (2006)

Mouse models of intestinal inflammation have played a key role in understanding the mechanisms that govern the inflammatory response in the intestine, and in designing new therapeutic strategies in the treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Most of these models use chemical challenges, whereas relatively few robust models of intestinal inflammation caused by microbial infection are known. Two common models of infectious murine colitis and typhlitis are infection with the murine epithelial-adherent pathogen, Citrobacter rodentium, and infection of streptomycin-pretreated mice with Salmonella typhimurium. Studies in these models have helped to define the interactions between bacterial pathogens and host immune defenses, thus broadening the understanding of host-microbial interactions in the intestinal tract. Furthermore, such models help to determine the physiologic consequences of neutralizing specific mediators and signaling pathways implicated in inflammation on antimicrobial host defense.
Prevalence of overuse (injury) syndrome in Australian music schools. (1987)

Overuse (injury) syndrome, common in musicians, is characterised by persisting pain and tenderness in the muscles and joint ligaments of the upper limb due to excessive use and in more advanced instances by weakness and loss of response and control in the affected muscle groups. This occurs typically in tertiary music students when their practice load is raised. In seven Australian performing music schools the minimum prevalence of the condition was found to be 9.3%. In two music schools where the study was more controlled the incidences were 13% and 21%. The factors leading to overuse (injury) syndrome may be identified as follows: the genetic factor of vulnerability which cannot be altered; the student's technique which may be influenced by teaching and application so that it is more "energy efficient"; and the time X intensity of practice which is totally within the student's control. Prevention involves education of staff and students about the overuse process, rationalisation of practice habits and repertoire, abolition or reduction of static loading of the weight of the instruments, and earlier reporting when the problem is most easily corrected. Psychological problems arising in this syndrome appeared to occur as a reaction to the condition rather than as a causal factor.
Structure and conductivity in substituted polypyrroles. Part 1. Synthesis and electropolymerization of N-trimethylsilylethoxymethyl-3-methyl-4-pyrrole carboxylate ethyl ester (1998)

The electrochemical polymerization of N-trimethylsilylethoxymethyl-3-methyl-4-pyrrole carboxylate ethyl ester (MPCE-SEM) in the presence of pyrrole, to give free-standing copolymer films is described. These films have been characterized by surface conductivity measurements, reflectance FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Increasing the relative concentration of MPCE-SEM in the polymerization solution resulted in an increase in the proportion of these units in the copolymer film. Increasing the proportion of MPCE-SEM units in the copolymer resulted in a decrease in surface conductivity. This is consistent with expectation because N-substituted polypyrroles tend to have lower conductivity values than unsubstituted polypyrrole. Significantly, it has also been shown that the N-protecting group of the MPCE-SEM unit can be removed after polymerization under mild conditions in a solid phase deprotection procedure. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry
ChIP'ing the mammalian genome: technical advances and insights into functional elements (2009)

Characterization of the functional components in mammalian genomes depends on our ability to completely elucidate the genetic and epigenetic regulatory networks of chromatin states and nuclear architecture. Such endeavors demand the availability of robust and effective approaches to characterizing protein-DNA associations in their native chromatin environments. Consider able progress has been made through the applica tion of chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) to study chromatin biology in cells. Coupled with genome-wide analyses, ChIP-based assays enable us to take a global, unbiased and comprehensive view of transcriptional control, epigenetic regulation and chromatin structures, with high precision and versatility. The integrated knowledge derived from these studies is used to decipher gene regulatory networks and define genome organization. In this review, we discuss this powerful approach and its current advances. We also explore the possible future developments of ChIP-based approaches to interrogating long-range chromatin interactions and their impact on the mechanisms regulating gene expression.
RNAi-mediated silencing of CD40 prevents leukocyte adhesion on CD154-activated endothelial cells (2004)

The CD40-CD154 dyad has a central role in the development of immune-inflammatory processes. Therefore, disruption of CD40 signaling has the potential to be therapeutically useful in a number of disease indications, including autoimmune syndromes, atherosclerosis, and allograft rejection. Blocking antibodies to CD154 have been successfully employed in experimental animal models, and recently in clinical trials, to prevent or treat these immunologically induced diseases. However, the thrombotic events observed in some of these studies raise important issues regarding future use of anti-CD154 antibodies in humans. In this study, we demonstrate that a small interfering RNA (siRNA) can effectively reduce the surface expression of the human CD40 costimulatory receptor. Moreover, by rendering endothelial cells unresponsive to CD154(+) Jurkat cell-mediated activation through RNA interference, induction of endothelial cell-adhesion molecule expression and leukocyte adhesion is prevented in vitro. Thus, anti-CD40 siRNA may become a safe and effective therapeutic option for interfering with CD40-CD154-mediated acute or chronic immune-inflammatory conditions.
2‐methoxyestradiol blocks cell‐cycle progression at G2/M phase and inhibits growth of human prostate cancer cells (2001)

2-Methoxyestradiol (2-ME), an endogenous metabolite of 17beta-estradiol, is present in human blood and urine. Here we show for the first time that 2-ME significantly inhibited the growth of normal prostate epithelial cells and androgen-dependent LNCaP and androgen-independent DU145 prostate cancer cells. This growth inhibition was accompanied by a twofold increase in the G(2)/M population, with a concomitant decrease in the G(1) population, as shown by cell-cycle analysis. 2-ME treatment affected the cell-cycle progression of prostate cancer cells specifically by blocking cells in the G(2) phase. Immunoblot analysis of the key cell-cycle regulatory proteins in the G(2)/M phase showed a 14-fold increase in the expression of p21 and an eightfold increase in the expression of p34 cell division cycle 2 (cdc2). We also found an accumulation of phosphorylated cdc2 after 2-ME treatment. Furthermore, Wee 1 kinase was detectable after 2-ME treatment. 2-ME treatment also led to an increase in the activity of caspase-3, followed by apoptosis, as shown by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine 5-triphosphate-biotin nick end-labeling and fluorescein isothiocyanate-poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase assay. Estrogen receptor levels did not change after treatment with 2-ME. Examination of the signaling pathways that mediate 2-ME-induced apoptosis showed reduction in the level of p53 expression and its DNA-binding activity. Given the fact that p53 mutations are common in patients with metastatic prostate cancer, our finding that 2-ME-mediated growth inhibition of human prostate cancer cells occurred in a p53-independent manner has considerable clinical significance. These findings, combined with the limited toxicity of 2-ME, may have significant implications for alternative treatment of advanced prostate cancer.
Mucosal adjuvants and anti-infection and anti-immunopathology vaccines based on cholera toxin, cholera toxin B subunit and CpG DNA (2003)

The mucosal immune system consists of an integrated network of lymphoid cells that work in concert with innate host factors to promote host defence. Mucosal immunization can be used both to protect the mucosal surfaces against colonization and invasion by microbial pathogens and to provide a means for immunological treatment of selected autoimmune, allergic or infectious-immunopathological disorders through the induction of antigen-specific tolerance. The development of mucosal vaccines, whether for prevention of infectious diseases or for oral tolerance immunotherapy, requires efficient antigen delivery and adjuvant systems. Significant progress has recently been made to generate partly or wholly detoxified derivatives of cholera toxin (including the completely nontoxic cholera toxin B subunit) and the closely related Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin, with retained adjuvant activity. Cholera toxin B subunit is a protective component of a widely registered oral vaccine against cholera, and has proven to be a promising vector for either giving rise to anti-infective immunity or for inducing peripheral anti-inflammatory tolerance to chemically or genetically linked foreign antigens administered mucosally. Promising advances have also recently been made in the design of efficient mucosal adjuvants based on bacterial DNA that contains CpG-motifs and various imidazoquinoline compounds binding to different Toll-like receptors on mucosal antigen-presenting cells.
Effectiveness of Juvéderm Ultra Plus Dermal Filler in the Treatment of Severe Nasolabial Folds (2008)

Juvéderm Ultra Plus provides correction of severe nasolabial folds through 1 year or more.
The CYP2D6 Activity Score: Translating Genotype Information into a Qualitative Measure of Phenotype (2007)

Inferring CYP2D6 phenotype from genotype is increasingly challenging, considering the growing number of alleles and their range of activity. This complexity poses a challenge in translational research where genotyping is being considered as a tool to personalize drug therapy. To simplify genotype interpretation and improve phenotype prediction, we evaluated the utility of an "activity score" (AS) system. Over 25 CYP2D6 allelic variants were genotyped in 672 subjects of primarily Caucasian and African-American heritage. The ability of genotype and AS to accurately predict phenotype using the CYP2D6 probe substrate dextromethorphan was evaluated using linear regression and clustering methods. Phenotype prediction, given as a probability for each AS group, was most accurate if ethnicity was considered; among subjects with genotypes containing a CYP2D6*2 allele, CYP2D6 activity was significantly slower in African Americans compared to Caucasians. The AS tool warrants further prospective evaluation for CYP2D6 substrates and in additional ethnic populations.
Dry ice cleaning to improvise dielectric features of high voltage windings in turbine generators (2013)

Surface electrical discharges and tracking in service are attributed to contamination of end windings in high voltage turbine generators. Unnoticed over a period of time, it deteriorates winding dielectric, results in low insulation resistance(IR), smaller polarization index(PI) number and higher tanδ. Dirty windings block the ventilation, increases power loss and reduce efficiency. Eventually, machine stalls with sudden earth fault. This paper discusses the novel purification method viz. Dry Ice Cleaning (DIC) to clean the stator end windings of turbine generator in a power plant. Effect of contamination on dielectric parameters of windings is emphasized. Traditional practices and cleaning agents to remove debris on overhangs are presented. New process of solid CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> cleaning for dirt removal during overhaul is described. Techno-economic aspects in usage of this cryogenic material and technology are highlighted. Experience on 120MW, 11 KV turbine generator to enhance the life through DIC cleaning is presented. Condition assessment dielectric test results before and after DIC are depicted and compared. Recommendations are given to asset managers of power plants for eco friendly cleaning technology to protect the environment and enhance life of the machine.