gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Development of an accurate pH measurement methodology for the pore fluids of low pH cementitious materials (2012)

The main objective of this project has been the development of an agreed set of protocols for the pH measurement of the pore fluid of a low pH cementitious material. Three protocols have been developed (Chapter 2), a reference method, based on pore fluid expression (PFE), and two routine methods with and without filtering, based on Ex Situ Leaching (ESL) procedures. Templates have been designed on which to record details of the pH measurement for the reference (PFE) method (Appendix C) and the routine (ESL) methods without and with filtering (Appendix D). Preliminary protocols were based on a broad review of the literature (Appendix A) and refined through a series of test experiments of the more critical parameters (Appendix B). After definition of the preliminary protocols, two phases of interlaboratory tests were performed. The first phase (Chapter 3) used the same low pH cement paste and enabled the nine participating laboratories to use, become familiar with and to identify any problems/uncertainties in the preliminary protocols. The reported pH values were subjected to a statistical analysis of the (within laboratory) repeatability and (between-laboratory) reproducibility and so provided a reliability test of the preliminary protocols. The second phase (Chapter 4) of interlaboratory tests used four different candidate low pH cementitious materials in the same nine laboratories, which allowed testing, validation and comparison of the reported pH values, which were obtained using the final protocols for the reference (PFE) and routine (ESL) methods by statistical analysis. The proposed final protocols (Chapter 2) have resulted in the reported pH values having low deviation and high reproducibility and repeatability. This will allow confidence in the pH value when selecting a candidate low pH cementitious material to be used in the engineered component of a high-level nuclear waste repository.
Preparation and properties of montmorillonite‐based polyimide nanocomposites (2004)

Abstract Montmorillonite (MMT)‐based polyimide (PI) nanocomposites were prepared via two‐stage polymerization of PI using polyamic acid (PAA). The clay was organically modified using various alkylammonium ions to examine the effect of changes in alkyl length on the intercalation spacing of both the treated clays and their hybrids with PAA and PI. The intercalation behavior of clay in the PI matrix and its thermal and mechanical properties were investigated as a function of clay concentration. The d‐spacing of organically modified MMT (O‐MMT) increased with increasing length of the alkylammonium chain. PI/O‐MMT hybrids form exfoliated nanocomposites at clay concentrations below 2 wt%, while they form intercalated nanocomposites together with some exfoliated ones at clay contents exceeding 4 wt%. Young's modulus increased rapidly to a clay loading of 2 wt%, and leveled off with further increases in clay loading. The tensile strength at break increased rapidly up to a clay loading of 1 wt%, and then decreased sharply, while the strain at break showed a monotonic decrease with increasing clay loading from 0 to 8 wt%. The storage modulus, E ′, in the temperature range below the glass transition temperature T g , generally increased with increasing clay content, except at the highest clay content of 8 wt%. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry
Tissue remodeling in eosinophilic esophagitis (2012)

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a recently recognized, immune-mediated disease characterized clinically by symptoms of esophageal dysfunction and histologically by eosinophil-predominant inflammation. The chronic esophageal eosinophilia of EoE is associated with tissue remodeling that includes epithelial hyperplasia, subepithelial fibrosis, and hypertrophy of esophageal smooth muscle. This remodeling causes the esophageal rings and strictures that frequently complicate EoE and underlies the mucosal fragility that predisposes to painful mucosal tears in the EoE esophagus. The pathogenesis of tissue remodeling in EoE is not completely understood, but emerging studies suggest that secretory products of eosinophils and mast cells, as well as cytokines produced by other inflammatory cells, epithelial cells, and stromal cells in the esophagus, all contribute to the process. Interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13, Th2 cytokines overproduced in allergic disorders, have direct profibrotic and remodeling effects in EoE. The EoE esophagus exhibits increased expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, which is a potent activator of fibroblasts and a strong inducer of epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In addition, IL-4, IL-13, and TGF-β all have a role in regulating periostin, an extracellular matrix protein that might influence remodeling by acting as a ligand for integrins, by its effects on eosinophils or by activating fibrogenic genes in the esophagus. Presently, few treatments have been shown to affect the tissue remodeling that causes EoE complications. This report reviews the potential roles of fibroblasts, eosinophils, mast cells, and profibrotic cytokines in esophageal remodeling in EoE and identifies potential targets for future therapies that might prevent EoE complications.
The Effect of a Flow Field on Chemical Detection Performance of Quadrotor Drone (2020)

The determination of a suitable sensor location on quadrotor drones is a very important issue for chemical reconnaissance platforms because the magnitude and direction of air velocity is different for each location. In this study, we investigated a customized chemical reconnaissance system consisting of a quadrotor drone and a chip-sized chemical sensor for detecting dimethyl-methylphosphonate (DMMP; a Sarin simulant) and investigated the chemical detection properties with respect to the sensor position through indoor experiments and particle image velocimetry (PIV) analysis of the system. The PIV results revealed an area free of vortex-vortex interaction between the drone rotors, where there was distinctly stable and uniform chemical detection of DMMP. The proposed chemical reconnaissance system was found to be realistic for practical application.
An Examination of Risk Factors for Tobacco and Cannabis Smoke Exposure in Adolescents Using an Epigenetic Biomarker (2021)

<b>Objective:</b> Evolving patterns of nicotine and cannabis use by adolescents require new tools to understand the changing epidemiology of these substances. Here we describe the use of a novel epigenetic biomarker sensitive to both tobacco and cannabis smoke in a longitudinal sample of high-risk adolescents. We examine risk factors for positivity for this epigenetic biomarker in comparison to positivity for conventional serum biomarkers of nicotine and cannabis use. <b>Method:</b> Eastern Iowa 10th graders who had a friend or family member who smoked were eligible to participate in a longitudinal study over 10-12th grades. Subjects provided self-report data on nicotine, tobacco, and cannabis use patterns as well as blood samples that were used for serum cotinine and THC assays. DNA was prepared for analysis of methylation at the CpG cg05575921, a sensitive indicator of smoke exposure. Relationships between positivity for each these biomarkers and a variety of risk factors, including demographics, family and peer relationships, psychopathology, willingness to smoke, and perceptions of typical cigarette and cannabis users, were examined at the 10th (<i>n</i> = 442), 11th (<i>n</i> = 376), and 12th (<i>n</i> = 366) grade timepoints. <b>Results:</b> A increasing proportion of subjects were positive for cotinine (5-16%), THC (3-10%), and cg05575921 methylation (5-7%) across timepoints, with some overlap. Self-reported combusted tobacco and cannabis use was strongly correlated with all biomarkers, whereas cg05575921 methylation was not correlated with reported e-cigarette use. Dual users, defined as those positive for nicotine and THC in the 12th grade showed the greatest cumulative smoke exposure, indicated by cg05575921 methylation. Subjects reported more positive attitudes toward cannabis users than cigarette smokers, and willingness to smoke and positive perceptions of tobacco and cannabis smokers were significant risk factors for biomarker positivity across timepoints. <b>Conclusion:</b> We conclude that measurement of cg05575921 methylation in adolescents is a useful tool in detecting tobacco smoking in adolescents, and may be a novel tool for the detection of cannabis smoking and cannabis and tobacco co-use, though non-combusted forms of nicotine use do not appear to be detectable by this method.
Lin28 Induces Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition and Stemness via Downregulation of Let-7a in Breast Cancer Cells (2013)

The RNA-binding protein Lin28 is known to promote malignancy by inhibiting the biogenesis of let-7, which functions as a tumor suppressor. However, the role of the Lin28/let-7 axis in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness in breast cancer has not been clearly expatiated. In our previous study, we demonstrated that let-7 regulates self-renewal and tumorigenicity of breast cancer stem cells. In the present study, we demonstrated that Lin28 was highly expressed in mesenchymal (M) type cells (MDA-MB-231 and SK-3rd), but it was barely detectable in epithelial (E) type cells (MCF-7 and BT-474). Lin28 remarkably induced the EMT, increased a higher mammosphere formation rate and ALDH activity and subsequently promoted colony formation, as well as adhesion and migration in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Lin28 induced EMT in breast cancer cells via downregulation of let-7a. Strikingly, Lin28 overexpression was found in breast cancers that had undergone metastasis and was strongly predictive of poor prognoses in breast cancers. Given that Lin28 induced the EMT via let-7a and promoted breast cancer metastasis, Lin28 may be a therapeutic target for the eradication of breast cancer metastasis.
A method for determining 24 Na and 42 K when present together in liquid samples (1958)

A simple method has been described for the separate determination of 24Na and 42K in liquid samples, which is based on the differential absorption of β-particles. The relative concentrations of the isotopes are estimated from the difference in the observed counting rates of a sample when it is measured in a type M6 tube and in a modified M6 tube. Details are given for the necessary modification of the M6 tube.
Enhancing Selectivity in Big Data (2018)

Today’s companies collect immense amounts of personal data and enable wide access to it within the company. This exposes the data to external hackers and privacy-transgressing employees. This study shows that, for a wide and important class of workloads, only a fraction of the data is needed to approach state-of-the-art accuracy. We propose selective data systems that are designed to pinpoint the data that is valuable for a company’s current and evolving workloads. These systems limit data exposure by setting aside the data that is not truly valuable.
Influence of composition on the melt crystallization of isotactic random propylene/1‐butene copolymers (1980)

Abstract The influence of composition on the overall rate of isothermal crystallization of isotactic random propylene/1‐butene copolymers is investigated. At a constant crystallization temperature a small fraction of 1‐butene co‐units inserted along a polypropylene chain causes a drastic reduction in the overall rate of crystallization. Further it is found that for a given rate of crystallization it is possible to crystallize the isotactic polypropylene at lower crystallization temperature by adding along the chain a small amount of 1‐butene as comonomer. The equilibrium melting temperature, the surface free energy of folding, the enthalpy and the entropy of fusion decrease with increasing the contents of 1‐butene in the copolymer samples.
Elevated expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 in dorsal root ganglia of rats with endometriosis (2017)

Pain is the most pronounced complaint of women with endometriosis, however the underlying mechanism is still poorly understood. In the present study, the authors evaluate the effect of transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) on endometriosis-associated pain. A total of 36 SD rats were randomly divided into a sham group (n=9) and a Model group (n=27), accepted auto‑transplanted pieces of fat or uterus to the pelvic cavity. At 4 weeks, the Model group was randomly subdivided into the following groups: ENDO group (no treatment, n=9), BCTC group (Model + BCTC, an antagonist of TRPV1, n=9), Vehicle group (Model + cyclodextrin, the vehicle of BCTC, n=9). Tail‑flick test was performed prior to surgery, 1 h prior to and following treatment of BCTC or cyclodextrin. The expression of TRPV1, substance P (SP), calcitonin gene‑related peptide (CGRP) in L1‑L6 DRG was measured via immunohistochemistry, western blotting and RT‑qPCR. The results indicated that the Model group exhibited a signiﬁcant decrease in tail flick latency compared to pre‑surgical baseline, and the expression of TRPV1, SP, CGRP protein and mRNA in L1‑L6 DRG signiﬁcantly increased compared to the sham group. BCTC significantly improved tail flick latency, and downregulated the expression of TRPV1, SP and CGRP protein and mRNA levels in L1‑L6 DRG compared to ENDO group. However, there were no significant differences of those in Vehicle group compared with the ENDO group. Taken together, the current study provides evidence that TRPV1 expressed in DRG may serve an important role in endometriosis-associated pain.
Anomalous Thermal Expansion of Cold-Rolled Ti-Nb-Ta-Zr Alloy (2009)

Negative thermal expansion, i.e. a type of shrinkage that occurs during heating, was observed in cold-rolled Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr alloy (mass%) (TNTZ). The reduction ratio of cold rolling and the angle of the longitudinal axis of specimens with respect to the cold-rolling direction were systematically changed, and then the thermal expansion rate was measured using a dilatometer. Further, the cyclicity of thermal expansion was examined for the cold-rolled TNTZ. From the results, it is observed that with an increase in the reduction ratio of cold rolling, the thermal expansion rate of TNTZ cold-rolled parallel to the rolling direction (RD) decreases, but it increases in TNTZ cold-rolled parallel to the transverse direction (TD). With regard to the anisotropy of thermal expansion, the thermal expansion rate increases with the angle between the longitudinal axis of the specimens and RD. Further, the cyclicity of the above-mentioned anomalous thermal expansion is observed in a temperature range below 473 K, but it is not observed when the specimen is heated above 573 K in the first cycle.
Capillary Electrophoresis: A Versatile Technique in Pharmaceutical Analysis (2017)

Capillary electrophoresis is a technique of high speed, good sensitivity, low limit of detection, and quantification with economic experimental price. Thermooptical absorbance is a laser-based detection device used in capillary electrophoresis. In this detection method, a beam of high-energy laser is focused onto the separation capillary and the analytes are excited. Data integration is the final and imperative part of capillary electrophoresis equipment, which provides direct information about the analyses. good hyphenation of capillary electrophoresis equipment with atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and mass devices should be developed, which may result into superior reproducibility and small limits of detection. AAS is being used as a potent instrument in the quantitative analysis of trace elements. AAS has been hyphenated at several occasions with capillary electrophoresis, especially in the application of metal ion analysis and compounds having metal ions such as hemoglobin and cyanocobalamine.
Comparative Structural and Functional Analysis of Orthomyxovirus Polymerase Cap-Snatching Domains (2016)

Orthomyxovirus Influenza A virus (IAV) heterotrimeric polymerase performs transcription of viral mRNAs by cap-snatching, which involves generation of capped primers by host pre-mRNA binding via the PB2 subunit cap-binding site and cleavage 10–13 nucleotides from the 59 cap by the PA subunit endonuclease. Thogotoviruses, tick-borne orthomyxoviruses that includes Thogoto (THOV), Dhori (DHOV) and Jos (JOSV) viruses, are thought to perform cap-snatching by cleaving directly after the cap and thus have no heterogeneous, host-derived sequences at the 59 extremity of their mRNAs. Based on recent work identifying the cap-binding and endonuclease domains in IAV polymerase, we determined the crystal structures of two THOV PB2 domains, the putative cap-binding and the so-called ‘627-domain’, and the structures of the putative endonuclease domains (PA-Nter) of THOV and DHOV. Despite low sequence similarity, corresponding domains have the same fold confirming the overall architectural similarity of orthomyxovirus polymerases. However the putative Thogotovirus cap-snatching domains in PA and PB2 have non-conservative substitutions of key active site residues. Biochemical analysis confirms that, unlike the IAV domains, the THOV and DHOV PA-Nter domains do not bind divalent cations and have no endonuclease activity and the THOV central PB2 domain does not bind cap analogues. On the other hand, sequence analysis suggests that other, non-influenza, orthomyxoviruses, such as salmon anemia virus (isavirus) and Quaranfil virus likely conserve active cap-snatching domains correlating with the reported occurrence of heterogeneous, host-derived
Graph-based technologies for intelligence analysis (2004)

Enhancing traditional algorithmic techniques for improved pattern analysis.
Deriving stereocilia displacement from the impedance of the organ of Corti (2015)

The response of an inner hair cell (IHC) to a sound stimulus varies in terms of phase and harmonic content depending nonlinearly on the stimulus level. This dependency can be explained by the two factor cancellation hypothesis: two excitatory components of the opposite sign, C1 and C2, regulate the IHC receptor potential. However, it is yet unknown whether C1 and C2 represent the contribution of different stereocilia rows to the transduction of a single IHC, or whether they represent different mechanical contributions to the displacement of a single stereocilia bundle. There are also diverse theories about the physical origin of the two components. This work presents a computational model of IHCs functionality having clear physical origins for C1 and C2. In the present model C1 represents the transduction component associated with the coupling between the stereocilia and the basilar membrane (BM), while C2 represents the transduction component associated with the coupling between the stereocilia and the outer hair cells (OHCs). C1 and C2 are derived from the nonlinear cochlear model by Verhulst et al. (2012). In particular, C1 is derived from the BM velocity vector and C2 is derived from the term representing the action of the organ of Corti (OC) on BM motion. The present model is capable to simulate the dynamic response of IHCs and to emulate the dependency of the phase and harmonic content of IHCs response, being in good agreement with animal data. Furthermore, this work introduces a simple physical interpretation of C2 to phenomenological models of two-factor cancellation.
Two distinct types of SV40-transformed human amnion cells. (1970)

Summary Human epithelial amnion cells infected in primary culture with simian virus 40 transform to give rise to two morphologically different cells (T and R). R cell foci appear later, after infection, and the proportion of R to T cell foci increases when older amnion cultures are infected. T cells may be easily subcultured by routine trypsinization methods. The more slowly dividing R cells are very resistant to treatment with enzymes and chelating agents, and require special subcultivation procedures. Cultures of both transformed cell types produce SV40; R cell cultures show higher virus titers and contain more virus-producing cells. Chromosome numbers of R cells are near tetraploid in the early stages of cultivation. However, T cells remain in the diploid range for longer periods. R cells do not enter a typical “crisis” stage. They produce more growth than T cells in the cheek pouch of weanling hamsters conditioned with cortisone. It is proposed that the amount of R cell transformation is related to the formation of a population in older uninfected primary cultures with an abnormal genetic constitution.
Dietary Intake of Coumarins and Furocoumarins through Citrus Beverages: A Detailed Estimation by a HPLC-MS/MS Method Combined with the Linear Retention Index System (2021)

Official regulations concerning the maximum number of substances in food are introduced as a consequence of possible adverse effects, after oral administration. In this regard, analytical methods are necessary in order to determine specific targets. Among oxygen heterocyclic compounds (OHCs, that are furocoumarins, coumarins and polymethoxyflavones), only coumarin is subject to restriction by the Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 of the European Parliament. Furocoumarins are known for their phototoxicity and other side effects due to their dietary intake; however, an official limit about the maximum content of these compounds in food is still missing. The lack of information about the real amount of these compounds in food is responsible for the conflicting opinions about the introduction of an official limit. The HPLC-MS/MS method here proposed, in combination with the linear retention index system, represents an innovative analytical strategy for the characterization of OHCs in citrus beverages. Several types of drinks were analysed in order to quantify 35 OHCs in total. This method is suitable for the quality control of OHCs in food and the obtained results may be considered as informative data useful for the regulatory authorities in the emission of new opinions and for a potential new regulation in this field.
Genetically Modified Organism-Free RNA Interference: Exogenous Application of RNA Molecules in Plants (2019)

Since its discovery more than 20 years ago, RNA interference (RNAi) has been extensively used in crop protection platforms. So far, RNAi approaches have been conventionally based on the use of transgenic plants expressing double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) against selected targets. However, the use of transgenes and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has raised considerable scientific and public concerns. Hence emerged the need for alternative approaches that avoid the use of transgenes and resort instead to direct exogenous application of RNA molecules that have the potential to trigger RNAi. Here, we highlight the most important advances in this field, discussing the various methods of RNA delivery in plants against diverse targets such as plant genes, viruses, viroids, fungi, insects, mites, and nematodes. In addition, we examine the possible shortcomings of these methods, underline the critical parameters that have to be met for a desired outcome, and explore feasible possibilities to increase their efficiency and applicability, even against bacterial pathogens. © 2020 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.