gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Microspheres for controlled release drug delivery (2004)

Controlled release drug delivery employs drug-encapsulating devices from which therapeutic agents may be released at controlled rates for long periods of time, ranging from days to months. Such systems offer numerous advantages over traditional methods of drug delivery, including tailoring of drug release rates, protection of fragile drugs and increased patient comfort and compliance. Polymeric microspheres are ideal vehicles for many controlled delivery applications due to their ability to encapsulate a variety of drugs, biocompatibility, high bioavailability and sustained drug release characteristics. Research discussed in this review is focused on improving large-scale manufacturing, maintaining drug stability and enhancing control of drug release rates. This paper describes methods of microparticle fabrication and the major factors controlling the release rates of encapsulated drugs. Furthermore, recent advances in the use of polymer microsphere-based systems for delivery of single-shot vaccines, plasmid DNA and therapeutic proteins are discussed, as well as some future directions of microsphere research.
scFv Single Chain Antibody Variable Fragment as Inverse Agonist of the β2-Adrenergic Receptor (2003)

Antibodies directed against the second extracellular loop of G protein-coupled receptors were shown to possess functional activities. Using a functional monoclonal antibody against the human beta2-adrenergic receptor, a scFv fragment with high affinity for the target epitope was constructed and produced. The fragment recognized the beta2-adrenergic receptors on A431 cells, blocked cAMP accumulation induced by the beta2-agonist salbutamol, and decreased basal cAMP accumulation in the same cells. Their in vitro activity was tested on neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. The antibody fragments blocked the chronotropic activity induced by the beta2-agonist clenbuterol. They also decreased the in vivo heart beating frequency of mice pretreated with bisoprolol (a beta1-adrenergic receptor antagonist) for 4 min after injection. The immunological approach presented here may serve as a strategy for the synthesis of a new class of allosteric modulators for G protein-coupled receptors.
Whole-Genome Comparison of Leucine-Rich Repeat Extensins in Arabidopsis and Rice. A Conserved Family of Cell Wall Proteins Form a Vegetative and a Reproductive Clade, (2003)

We have searched the Arabidopsis and rice (Oryza sativa) genomes for homologs of LRX1, an Arabidopsis gene encoding a novel type of cell wall protein containing a leucine-rich repeat (LRR) and an extensin domain. Eleven and eight LRX (LRR/EXTENSIN) genes have been identified in these two plant species, respectively. The LRX gene family encodes proteins characterized by a short N-terminal domain, a domain with 10 LRRs, a cysteine-rich motif, and a variable C-terminal extensin-like domain. Phylogenetic analysis performed on the conserved domains indicates the existence of two major clades of LRX proteins that arose before the eudicot/monocot divergence and then diversified independently in each lineage. In Arabidopsis, gene expression studies by northern hybridization and promoter::uidA fusions showed that the two phylogenetic clades represent a specialization into "reproductive" and "vegetative" LRXs. The four Arabidopsis genes of the "reproductive" clade are specifically expressed in pollen, whereas the seven "vegetative" genes are predominantly expressed in various sporophytic tissues. This separation into two expression classes is also supported by previous studies on maize (Zea mays) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) LRX homologs and by information on available rice ESTs. The strong conservation of the amino acids responsible for the putative recognition specificity of the LRR domain throughout the family suggests that the LRX proteins interact with similar ligands.
A Joint Many-Task Model: Growing a Neural Network for Multiple NLP Tasks (2017)

Transfer and multi-task learning have traditionally focused on either a single source-target pair or very few, similar tasks. Ideally, the linguistic levels of morphology, syntax and semantics would benefit each other by being trained in a single model. We introduce a joint many-task model together with a strategy for successively growing its depth to solve increasingly complex tasks. Higher layers include shortcut connections to lower-level task predictions to reflect linguistic hierarchies. We use a simple regularization term to allow for optimizing all model weights to improve one task's loss without exhibiting catastrophic interference of the other tasks. Our single end-to-end model obtains state-of-the-art or competitive results on five different tasks from tagging, parsing, relatedness, and entailment tasks.
Giant optical transmission of sub-wavelength apertures: physics and applications (2002)

The transmission of light through an aperture in a metal film is extremely small when the aperture diameter is much smaller than the optical wavelength. But when the metal surface surrounding the subwavelength hole is corrugated, the incident light can couple to surface plasmons (SP), excitation modes on the metal surface. A resonant interaction leads to an enhanced transmission at wavelengths determined by the corrugation pitch. We discuss applications of the SP enhanced transmission in near-field scanning optical microscopy and in high-density optical data storage.
Early stages of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced colon carcinogenesis suppress immune-regulated ion transport of mouse distal colon. (1994)

Genetic events, such as gene deletion, mutation, and amplification, are involved in the development and progression of colonic neoplasia. The importance of interactions between immune cells and neoplastic cells in influencing the pathogenesis of colon cancer is suggested by the clinical efficacy of levamisole, an immunostimulant, in the treatment of colon cancer and by the association of local lymphocytic infiltration with improved prognosis. Thus, the immune cell-neoplastic cell interaction can be viewed as being analogous to various host-parasite relationships that involve the immune system attempting to contain the intruding parasite on the one hand and the parasite attempting to escape detection and rejection on the other. This study is an attempt to gain a better understanding of such interactions by examining possible effects of a developing tumor on the immune system. Colon cancer was experimentally induced in mice to examine potential effects of carcinogenesis in the colon on local mucosal immune function in situ, using the expression of type I hypersensitivity as an index of immune function. Antigen-induced changes in net ion transport, a quantifiable correlate of type I hypersensitivity, were measured in the colon of mice following the administration of the procarcinogen 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Segments of colon and small intestine from mice immunized by infection with Trichinella spiralis secrete ions, manifested as a rise in transmural short-circuit current, when challenged with T. spiralis antigen in Ussing chambers. Antigen-induced rise in transmural short-circuit current is mast cell dependent and occurs only in immunized mice. To determine the effects of early stages of colon carcinogenesis on this mucosal immune response, mice were immunized with T. spiralis prior to and after 6 weekly injections of DMH. Responsiveness to antigenic challenge was suppressed in the distal colon 4-6 weeks after the final injection of DMH. Although responsiveness to antigen was suppressed, the colonic epithelium remained sensitive to direct stimulation by exogenous secretagogues. Decreased antigen responsiveness observed in the distal colon was not due to generalized immune suppression by DMH, because the proximal colon and the jejunum retained their responsiveness to antigen, and immune rejection of a secondary T. spiralis infection from the small intestine was not altered. Visible tumors eventually developed 30 weeks after the final injection of DMH only in the distal portions of the colon. These results suggest that early stages of DMH-induced carcinogenesis are associated with the suppression of mucosal immune function, as measured by immune-regulated ion secretion, in the distal colon but not in the proximal colon or jejunum.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Modeling of ground-penetrating Radar for accurate characterization of subsurface electric properties (2004)

The possibility to estimate accurately the subsurface electric properties from ground-penetrating radar (GPR) signals using inverse modeling is obstructed by the appropriateness of the forward model describing the GPR subsurface system. In this paper, we improved the recently developed approach of Lambot et al. whose success relies on a stepped-frequency continuous-wave (SFCW) radar combined with an off-ground monostatic transverse electromagnetic horn antenna. This radar configuration enables realistic and efficient forward modeling. We included in the initial model: 1) the multiple reflections occurring between the antenna and the soil surface using a positive feedback loop in the antenna block diagram and 2) the frequency dependence of the electric properties using a local linear approximation of the Debye model. The model was validated in laboratory conditions on a tank filled with a two-layered sand subject to different water contents. Results showed remarkable agreement between the measured and modeled Green's functions. Model inversion for the dielectric permittivity further demonstrated the accuracy of the method. Inversion for the electric conductivity led to less satisfactory results. However, a sensitivity analysis demonstrated the good stability properties of the inverse solution and put forward the necessity to reduce the remaining clutter by a factor 10. This may partly be achieved through a better characterization of the antenna transfer functions and by performing measurements in an environment without close extraneous scatterers.
Anionic Ring-Opening Polymerization of Trimethylsiloxy-Substituted 1-Oxa-2,5-disilacyclopentanes:  Synthesis of Trimethylsiloxy-Substituted Poly[1-oxa-2,5-disila-1,5-pentanylene]s (2002)

2,5,5-Trimethyl-2-trimethylsiloxy-1-oxa-2,5-disilacyclopentane (I), cis- and trans-2,5-dimethyl-2,5-bis(trimethylsiloxy)-1-oxa-2,5-disilacyclopentane (II), and 2-methyl-2,5,5-tris(trimethylsiloxy)-1-oxa-2,5-disilacyclopentane (III) have been prepared from 1,3,5,7-tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4H) and vinylpentamethyldisiloxane, vinylmethylbis(trimethylsiloxy)silane, and vinyltris(trimethylsiloxy)silane, respectively, by a two-step synthetic process. I, II, and III undergo anionic ring-opening polymerization (AROP) to yield poly[2,2,5-trimethyl-5-trimethylsiloxy-1-oxa-2,5-disila-1,5-pentanylene] (IV), poly[2,5-dimethyl-2,5-bis(trimethylsiloxy)-1-oxa-2,5-disila-1,5-pentanylene] (V), and poly[2-methyl-2,5,5-tris(trimethylsiloxy)-1-oxa-2,5-disila-1,5-pentanylene] (VI), respectively. I−VI have been characterized by 1H, 13C, and 29Si NMR and IR spectroscopy. Polymer microstructures have been determined by 29Si NMR. Molecular weights of I−III have been determined by GC/MS and by high-resolution mass spectrometry. Molecular weight distributions of IV−VI have been determined by GPC. Mn's have been independently determined by 1H NMR analysis. The glass transition temperatures (Tg's) and thermal stability of these polymers have been determined by DSC and TGA, respectively. Chain transfer apparently limits the molecular weight of VI.
Planteamientos metodológicos de un proyecto de investigación sobre arte rupestre: Símbolo y territorio. Arte rupestre prehistórico en la Sierra Morena cordobesa (2001)

Con el presente articulo pretendemos dar a conocer la base teorica y metodologica del proyecto de investigacion al que se refiere el titulo. Nuestra intencion no es otra que la de exponer de manera sucinta, dado el espacio de que disponemos, las lineas maestras que guian desde el ano 2002 -en funcion de la resolucion de autorizacion emitida por la Direccion General de Bienes Culturales de la Consejeria de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucia el lO de diciembre de 2001'- nuestra investigacion en el campo del arte rupestre prehistorico cordobes. Por tanto, los aspectos relacionados con el marco fisico y geografico y los detalles acerca de los procedimientos analiticos y del trabajo de campo seran tratados con mas profundidad en futuros trabajos.
Selective Inhibition of Factor Xa in the Prothrombinase Complex by the Carboxyl-terminal Domain of Antistasin (1998)

Studies of antistasin, a potent factor Xa inhibitor with anticoagulant properties, were performed wherein the properties of the full-length antistasin polypeptide (ATS-119) were compared with the properties of forms of antistasin truncated at residue 116 (ATS-116) and residue 112 (ATS-112). ATS-119 was 40-fold more potent than ATS-112 in prolonging the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), whereas ATS-119 inhibited factor Xa 2.2-fold less avidly and about 5-fold more slowly than did ATS-112. The decreased reactivity of ATS-119 suggests that the carboxyl-terminal domain of ATS-119 stabilizes an ATS conformation with a reduced reactivity toward factor Xa. The observation that calcium ion increases the reactivity of ATS-119 but not that of ATS-112 suggests that calcium ion may disrupt interactions involving the carboxyl terminus of ATS-119. Interestingly, ATS-119 inhibited factor Xa in the prothrombinase complex 2-6-fold more potently and 2-3-fold faster than ATS-112. These differences in affinity and reactivity might well account for the greater effectiveness of ATS-119 in prolonging the APTT and suggest that the carboxyl-terminal domain of ATS-119 disrupts interactions involving phospholipid, factor Va, and prothrombin in the prothrombinase complex. The peptide RPKRKLIPRLS, corresponding to the carboxyl domain of ATS-119 prolonged the APTT and inhibited prothrombinase-catalyzed processing of prothrombin, but it failed to inhibit the catalytic activity of isolated factor Xa. Thus, this novel inhibitor appears to exert its inhibitory effects at a site removed from the active site of factor Xa.
Skeletal muscle fibre plasticity in response to selected environmental and physiological stimuli. (2009)

Skeletal muscle constitutes a highly adaptable and malleable tissue that responds to environmental and physiological challenges by changing its phenotype in terms of size and composition, outcomes that are brought about by changes in gene expression, biochemical and metabolic properties. Both the short- and long-term effects of nutritional alterations on skeletal muscle homeostasis have been defined as the object of intensive research over the last thirty years. This review focuses predominantly on assimilating our understanding of the changes in muscle fibre phenotype and functional properties induced by either food restriction or alternatively existing on a high fat diet. Firstly, food restriction has been shown in a number of studies to decrease the myofibre cross sectional area and consistently, it has been found that glycolytic type IIB fibres are more prone to atrophy than oxidative fibres. Secondly, in rodents, a high fat diet has been shown to induce an oxidative profile in skeletal muscle, although obese humans usually show higher numbers of glycolytic type IIB fibres. Moreover, attention is paid to the effect of prenatal maternal food restriction on muscle development of the offspring in various species. A key point related to these experiments is the timing of food restriction for the mother. Furthermore, we explore extensively the seemingly species-specific response to maternal malnutrition. Finally, key signalling molecules that play a pivotal role in energy metabolism, fibre type transitions and muscle hypertrophy are discussed in detail.
Three-Dimensional Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering: The Importance of Uniformity in Pore Size and Structure (2010)

To validate the importance of uniformity in pore size and structure of a scaffold for tissue engineering, we fabricated two types of scaffolds with uniform (inverse opal scaffolds) and nonuniform pore sizes and structures, and then evaluated their properties in terms of diffusion of macromolecules, spatial distribution of fibroblasts, and differentiation of preosteoblasts. Our results confirmed the superior performance of the inverse opal scaffolds due to the uniform pore size, homogeneous environment, and high interconnectivity: a higher diffusion rate, a uniform distribution of cells, and a higher degree of differentiation. In addition, we found that both the differentiation of cells and secretion of extracellular matrix were dependent on the properties of the individual pore to which the cells were attached, rather than the bulk properties of a scaffold. Our results clearly indicate that inverse opal scaffolds could provide a better microenvironment for cells in comparison to a scaffold with nonuniform size and structure.
Minor Groove Hydration Is Critical to the Stability of DNA Duplexes (2000)

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVCommunicationNEXTMinor Groove Hydration Is Critical to the Stability of DNA DuplexesTao Lan and Larry W. McLaughlinView Author Information Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467 Cite this: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 27, 6512–6513Publication Date (Web):June 23, 2000Publication History Received25 February 2000Published online23 June 2000Published inissue 1 July 2000https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ja000686vhttps://doi.org/10.1021/ja000686vrapid-communicationACS PublicationsCopyright © 2000 American Chemical SocietyRequest reuse permissionsArticle Views949Altmetric-Citations37LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail Other access optionsGet e-AlertscloseSupporting Info (1)»Supporting Information Supporting Information SUBJECTS:Genetics,Hydration,Molecules,Noncovalent interactions,Nucleic acid structure Get e-Alerts
Applications of fluorescence in situ hybridization in biological dosimetry and detection of disease-specific chromosome aberrations. (1991)

Dual color FISH with whole chromosome and pan-centromere probes facilitates rapid detection of stable structural aberrations such as translocations. This approach should allow analysis of translocations for assessment of genetic damage at long times after exposure or as a result of chronic exposure during a long period of time. Multi-color FISH with locus specific probes allows assessment of the frequency of cells carrying specific aberrations known to be associated with tumorigenesis, analysis of the series of genetic changes that occur during tumor evolution and correlation between genotype and phenotype. The power of FISH for analysis of random and tumor related events will increase steadily as informative probes are developed during the course of the International Human Genome Project.
A critical role for phosphatase haplodeficiency in the selective suppression of deletion 5q MDS by lenalidomide (2009)

Lenalidomide is the first karyotype-selective therapeutic approved for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) owing to high rates of erythroid and cytogenetic response in patients with chromosome 5q deletion [del(5q)]. Although haploinsufficiency for the RPS14 gene and others encoded within the common deleted region (CDR) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of the del(5q) phenotype, the molecular basis of the karyotype specificity of lenalidomide remains unexplained. We focused our analysis on possible haplodeficient enzymatic targets encoded within the CDR that play key roles in cell-cycle regulation. We show that the dual specificity phosphatases, Cdc25C and PP2Acalpha, which are coregulators of the G(2)-M checkpoint, are inhibited by lenalidomide. Gene expression was lower in MDS and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) specimens with del(5q) compared with those with alternate karyotypes. Lenalidomide inhibited phosphatase activity either directly (Cdc25C) or indirectly (PP2A) with corresponding retention of inhibitory phospho-tyrosine residues. Treatment of del(5q) AML cells with lenalidomide induced G(2) arrest and apoptosis, whereas there was no effect in nondel(5q) AML cells. Small interfering RNA (shRNA) suppression of Cdc25C and PP2Acalpha gene expression recapitulated del(5q) susceptibility to lenalidomide with induction of G(2) arrest and apoptosis in both U937 and primary nondel(5q) MDS cells. These data establish a role for allelic haplodeficiency of the lenalidomide inhibitable Cdc25C and PP2Acalpha phosphatases in the selective drug sensitivity of del(5q) MDS.
C-reactive protein and alpha 1-acid glycoprotein levels in dogs infected with Ehrlichia canis (1994)

To elucidate whether acute-phase protein responses occur in dogs infected with Ehrlichia canis, C-reactive protein (CRP) and alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) levels were serially measured in the plasma of five dogs experimentally inoculated with E. canis and 10 sham-inoculated or noninoculated control dogs. The CRP concentration was measured by a canine-specific capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the AAG concentration was measured by a canine-specific radial immunodiffusion method. In all E. canis-inoculated dogs, a 3.3- to 6.5-fold increase in the plasma CRP concentration and a 1.9- to 8.6-fold increase in the plasma AAG concentration over the preinoculation level occurred at days 4 to 6 postexposure. Despite the persistence of E. canis and high antibody titers, both CRP and AAG concentrations gradually declined to preexposure levels by day 34 postexposure. E. canis-infected dogs had mild and transient clinical signs which resolved without treatment by day 14 postexposure. The CRP and AAG concentrations in control inoculated or nontreated dogs remained within the normal range throughout the experimental period. Of 12 dogs naturally infected with E. canis, 75% had greater than 50 micrograms of CRP per ml and 83% had greater than 500 micrograms of AAG per ml. All of these 12 dogs had chronic and severe clinical signs of canine ehrlichiosis. Thus, elevations in the levels of acute-phase proteins occur in both acute and chronic canine ehrlichiosis. Determination of CRP and AAG concentrations may help in assessing the severity of inflammatory damage in dogs with E. canis infections.
Nuclear osteopontin-c is a prognostic breast cancer marker (2015)

The addition of Osteopontin-c immunohistochemistry to standard pathology work-ups may have prognostic benefit in early breast cancer diagnosis.