gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Influx of African biomass burning aerosol during the Amazonian dry season through layered transatlantic transport of black carbon-rich smoke (2020)

Abstract. Black carbon (BC) aerosols influence the Earth's atmosphere and climate, but their microphysical properties, spatiotemporal distribution, and long-range transport are not well constrained. This study presents airborne observations of the transatlantic transport of BC-rich African biomass burning (BB) smoke into the Amazon Basin using a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) as well as several complementary techniques. We base our results on observations of aerosols and trace gases off the Brazilian coast onboard the HALO (High Altitude and LOng range) research aircraft during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign in September 2014. During flight AC19 over land and ocean at the northeastern coastline of the Amazon Basin, we observed a BC-rich layer at ∼3.5 km altitude with a vertical extension of ∼0.3 km. Backward trajectories suggest that fires in African grasslands, savannas, and shrublands were the main source of this pollution layer and that the observed BB smoke had undergone more than 10 d of atmospheric transport and aging over the South Atlantic before reaching the Amazon Basin. The aged smoke is characterized by a dominant accumulation mode, centered at about 130 nm, with a particle concentration of Nacc=850±330 cm−3. The rBC particles account for ∼15 % of the submicrometer aerosol mass and ∼40 % of the total aerosol number concentration. This corresponds to a mass concentration range from 0.5 to 2 µg m−3 (1st to 99th percentiles) and a number concentration range from 90 to 530 cm−3. Along with rBC, high cCO (150±30 ppb) and cO3 (56±9 ppb) mixing ratios support the biomass burning origin and pronounced photochemical aging of this layer. Upon reaching the Amazon Basin, it started to broaden and to subside, due to convective mixing and entrainment of the BB aerosol into the boundary layer. Satellite observations show that the transatlantic transport of pollution layers is a frequently occurring process, seasonally peaking in August/September. By analyzing the aircraft observations together with the long-term data from the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), we found that the transatlantic transport of African BB smoke layers has a strong impact on the northern and central Amazonian aerosol population during the BB-influenced season (July to December). In fact, the early BB season (July to September) in this part of the Amazon appears to be dominated by African smoke, whereas the later BB season (October to December) appears to be dominated by South American fires. This dichotomy is reflected in pronounced changes in aerosol optical properties such as the single scattering albedo (increasing from 0.85 in August to 0.90 in November) and the BC-to-CO enhancement ratio (decreasing from 11 to 6 ng m−3 ppb−1). Our results suggest that, despite the high fraction of BC particles, the African BB aerosol acts as efficient cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), with potentially important implications for aerosol–cloud interactions and the hydrological cycle in the Amazon.
Performance comparison of four practical implementations based on PWM, quasi and multiresonant topologies for on board DC/DC converters in distributed power architectures (2003)

In distributed power system architectures, the DC/DC conversion stage turns out to be an onboard converter with very stringent specifications, particularly in terms of efficiency and size. Practical implementations of four DC/DC converters based on PWM, quasi-resonant, and multiresonant topologies are compared for a telecommunications onboard application. Experimental results concerning efficiency, component stresses, EMC behavior and size are provided, and a comparative analysis based on these data is performed.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>
Automation in Cryo-FIB Preparation, from Cellular to Tissue Structural Biology (2023)

For any technology, the key to mass adoption is automation.Automation lowers costs by enabling higher throughput, removing dead time, provide a better use of human resources.Still, most importantly, it reduces the level of expertise required to perform the task.In electron microscopy, automation enabled high-quality tomography; the reproducible acquisition of thousands of micrographs is today the bread and butter for single particle analyses.More recently, the possibility of preparing cryo-lamellae on frozen-hydrated cellular samples for in situ structural studies also became routine work in multiple labs across the world.The latter has recently begun to provide incredible insights into the molecular organization of cells and organelles and the maturation of large macromolecular complexes.The next natural evolution of cryo-electron microscopy will be to investigate how cells interact and form complex tissues at the molecular scale.This task can only be achieved by precisely targeting the regions of interest in the analyzed tissue and the reproducible isolation of these regions.Here we present multiple examples of automation in cryo-FIB microscopy, enabling the targeted isolation of regions of interest from bulk cryo-preserved tissue.These methods include on-grid lamella preparation, cryo-lift out, and bulk imaging.All the presented methods will concur to provide easy access to complex workflows, lowering the training requirement for new users and increasing the chances of success.The main example presented here will be a program capable of performing cryo-lift out in an automated manner and removing the need for the user to interact with the microscope constantly.The choice of parameters and the actions are all standardized, therefore ensuring a high reproducibility along each step of the process, and reducing the chances of making mistakes.To automate the cryo-lift out process we have been using conventional machine vision coupled with Neural Network feature recognition.At every step, the program can validate the performance and correct for inaccuracy in the movements.Further, to validate the output and to optimize the performance at every action we developed a suite of tools that can analyze the performance at every step in the through the process and provide real time statistics.
The Natural Agonist of Estrogen Receptor β Silibinin Plays an Immunosuppressive Role Representing a Potential Therapeutic Tool in Rheumatoid Arthritis (2018)

Estrogens, in particular 17β-estradiol (E2), have a strong influence on the immune system and also affect pathological conditions such as autoimmune diseases. The biological effects of E2 are mediated by two intracellular receptors, i.e., estrogen receptor (ER)α and ERβ, which function as ligand-activated nuclear transcription factors producing genomic effects. Immune cells express both ERα and ERβ that play a complex role in modulating inflammation. Phytoestrogens display estrogen-like effects. Among them, silibinin, the major active constituent of silymarin extracted by the milk thistle (<i>Silybum marianum</i>), has been suggested to have an ERβ selective binding. Silibinin is known to have anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and anticarcinogenic effects; however, the role of silibinin in modulating human immune responses and its impact on autoimmunity remains unclear. Aim of this study was to dissect the ability of the ERβ natural ligand silibinin to modulate T cell immunity, taking into account possible differences between females and males, and to define its possible role as therapeutic tool in immune-mediated diseases. To this purpose, female and age-matched male healthy subjects and patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were recruited. We evaluated the ability of silibinin to modulate ERβ expression in T lymphocytes and its effects on T cell functions (i.e., apoptosis, proliferation, and cytokine production). We also analyzed whether silibinin was able to modulate the expression of microRNA-155 (miR-155), which strongly contributes to the pathogenesis of RA driving aberrant activation of the immune system. We demonstrated that silibinin upregulated ERβ expression, induced apoptosis, inhibited proliferation, and reduced expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-17 and TNF-α, through ERβ binding, in T lymphocytes from female and male healthy donors. We obtained similar results in T lymphocytes from patients with active RA in term of apoptosis, proliferation, and cytokine production. In addition, we found that silibinin acted as an epigenetic modifier, down-modulating the expression of miR-155. In conclusion, our data demonstrated an immunosuppressive role of silibinin, supporting its application in the treatment of autoimmune diseases as drug, but also as dietary nutritional supplement, opening new perspective in the field of autoimmune disease management.
Electron beam pumped broad-band diatomic and triatomic excimer lasers (1981)

The spontaneous and stimulated emission characteristics of three recently reported broad-band blue-green rare gas-halide excimers, XeF ( <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">C</i> → <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">A</i> ) at 486 nm, Xe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> Cl at 518 nm, and Kr <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> F centered at 436 nm, are reviewed. The influence of different halogen donors and buffer gases as well as optimization of both the gas mixture and optical resonator configuration for wavelength tuning were studied. The kinetic mechanisms which describes the formation and quenching of Xe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> Cl* are discussed. Problems with achieving optimum gain as well as understanding both molecular and atomic absorptions in electron beam excited rare gas-halide mixtures are detailed.
Validation of volumetric and single‐slice MRI adipose analysis using a novel fully automated segmentation method (2014)

We demonstrate the ability to accurately and rapidly segment regional adipose tissue using fat fraction maps across a wide population range, with varying hardware setups and acquisition methods.
Parallel algorithms for computing temporal aggregates (1999)

The ability to model the temporal dimension is essential to many applications. Furthermore, the rate of increase in database size and response time requirements has out-paced advancements in processor and mass storage technology, leading to the need for parallel temporal database management systems. In this paper, we introduce a variety of parallel temporal aggregation algorithms for a shared-nothing architecture based on the sequential "aggregation tree algorithm". Via an empirical study, we found that the number of processing nodes, the partitioning of the data, the placement of results and the degree of data reduction effected by the aggregation impacted on the performance of the algorithms. For distributed results placement, we discovered that time-division merging was the obvious choice. For centralized results and high data reduction, pairwise merging was preferred, regardless of the number of processing nodes, but for low data reduction, it only performed well up to 32 nodes. This led us to a centralized variant of time-division merging which was best for larger configurations having low data reduction.
Nordic initiatives to abate methane emissions (2014)

4.3 Small scale biogas production from manure, potatoes and flour for electricity and heat production 4.4 Biogas production from solid horse manure 4.5 Small scale local biogas production with gas distribution pipelines to collective upgrading plant 4.6 Landfill gas collection system and upgrading 4.7 Low-tech bio cover system 4.8 Micrometeorological methods for efficient recovery of landfill gas and control of emissions 4.9 Using landfill gas with low methane content to a further extent with an stirling engine 4.10 Thermal hydrolyses of sludge for anaerobic digestion 4.11 Sealed tanks for digested sludge 4.12 Large scale anaerobic digestion and pre-treatment of organic waste from households and slaughter house waste 4.13 Voluntary agreement for anaerobic digestion and gas upgrading plants 4.14 Hydrocarbon blanketing to eliminate VOC emissions from cargo tanks at FPSOs
eyeDentify: Multimedia Cyber Foraging from a Smartphone (2009)

The recent introduction of smartphones has resulted in an explosion of innovative mobile applications. The computational requirements of many of these applications, however, can not be met by the smartphone itself. The compute power of the smartphone can be enhanced by distributing the application over other compute resources. Existing solutions comprise of a light weight client running on the smartphone and a heavy weight compute server running on, for example, a cloud. This places the user in a dependent position, however, because the user only controls the client application. In this paper, we follow a different model, called cyber foraging, that gives users full control over all parts of the application. We have implemented the model using the Ibis middleware. We evaluate the model using an innovative application in the domain of multimedia computing, and show that cyber foraging increases the application's responsiveness and accuracy whilst decreasing its energy usage.
Microwedge Machining for the Manufacture of Directional Dry Adhesives (2013)

Directional dry adhesives are inspired by animals such as geckos and are a particularly useful technology for climbing applications. Previously, they have generally been manufactured using photolithographic processes. This paper presents a micromachining process that involves making cuts in a soft material using a sharp, lubricated tool to create closely spaced negative cavities of a desired shape. The machined material becomes a mold into which an elastomer is cast to create the directional adhesive. The trajectory of the tool can be varied to avoid plastic flow of the mold material that may adversely affect adjacent cavities. The relationship between tool trajectory and resulting cavity shape is established through modeling and process characterization experiments. This micromachining process is much less expensive than previous photolithographic processes used to create similar features and allows greater flexibility with respect to the microscale feature geometry, mold size, and mold material. The micromachining process produces controllable, directional adhesives, where the normal adhesion increases with shear loading in a preferred direction. This is verified by multi-axis force testing on a flat glass substrate. Upon application of a post-treatment to decrease the roughness of the engaging surfaces of the features after casting, the adhesives significantly outperform comparable directional adhesives made from a photolithographic mold.
Session F3C TECHNOLOGY TRAINING FOR ADULT WOMEN LEARNERS (2002)

This paper describes the successful completion of a pilot project aimed at skill development in computer technologies for adult women learners a the University of Detroit Mercy. The project, which involved the design of six computer-training modules, has some unique features, which will he discussed in this paper. The training was presented in the context of a required freshmen-level class at the university. We present the results of student assessments and outline directions for future work. Index term - adult learners, computer training, cross- disciplinary education, integrated approach.
The AP-2 Complex Is Excluded from the Dynamic Population of Plasma Membrane-associated Clathrin (2003)

Numerous biologically relevant substrates are selectively internalized via clathrin-mediated endocytosis. At the plasma membrane the AP-2 complex plays a major role in clathrin coat formation, interacting with both cargo and clathrin. Utilizing simultaneous dual-channel total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy we have analyzed components of the AP-2 complex (alpha- and beta 2-adaptin) during clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Although in static images enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged AP-2 markers significantly co-localized with clathrin and other components of clathrin-coated pits, AP-2 did not seem to be present in clathrin spots that appeared to undergo internalization or motility parallel to the plane of the plasma membrane. Two populations of clathrin at the plasma membrane seem to exist, the dynamic and the static, and AP-2 appears to be only found within the latter. These results suggest that colocalized clathrin/AP-2 puncta may represent loci for coated pit production and that previous models that assumed AP-2 was retained within clathrin coats during endocytosis may need to be re-evaluated.
BURIED INTERFACES OF HEAT-LOADED Mo/Si MULTILAYERS STUDIED BY SOFT-X-RAY EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY (2002)

We measured Si L 2,3 soft-X-ray emission spectra from Mo/Si multilayers annealed at 400°C. We showed that MoSi 2 was formed at the interface, and the thickness of the MoSi 2 interlayer increased with the annealing time. By an analysis of the soft-X-ray emission spectra and the patterns of small-angle X-ray diffraction, we estimated the thickness of the MoSi 2 interlayer and a diffusion coefficient between Mo and Si at 400°C as 1.1 (± 0.2) × 10 -18 cm 2 / s . We showed that soft-X-ray emission spectroscopy is a useful tool for studying the thermal change of the buried interface nondestructively.
Effects of Growth Temperature on Some Structural Properties of Crystalline Lamellae in Starches Extracted from Sweet Potatoes (Sunnyred and Ayamurasaki) (2003)

Abstract Thermodynamic characteristics defining gelatinisation (modelled as ‘melting’) processes for starches extracted from two sweet potato cultivars ( Ayamurasaki and Sunnyred ) grown in soil at different temperatures (15, 21, 27 or 33 °C) were studied using high sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The gelatinisation temperatures for all starches were elevated significantly with increasing growth temperature. A linear correlation between growth temperature and gelatinisation temperature of extracted starches was found for both cultivars. The increase of gelatinisation temperatures was associated with almost constant or slightly increased enthalpy ( Ayamurasaki ) but with moderate elevation of crystalline lamellae thickness ( Sunnyred ). Elevation of gelatinisation temperatures by 8‐9 °C by DSC for starches heated in 1.5 M aqueous KCl were found in comparison with aqueous starch dispersions. The crystalline polymorphic form was confirmed as A‐type using wide angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS). The values of the thermodynamic surface parameters characterising the faces of crystalline lamellae of these starches were calculated. Two endothermic peaks were observed by DSC for starches grown at 15 °C when suspended in 1.5 M KCl solution. The first peak was ascribed to the melting of B‐type structure while the second one was attributed to the melting of A‐type structure. As a conclusion it was suggested that these starches contain C‐type polymorphic structures.
Enteral Activation of WR-2721 Mediates Radioprotection and Improved Survival from Lethal Fractionated Radiation (2018)

Abstract Unresectable pancreatic cancer is almost universally lethal because chemotherapy and radiation cannot completely stop the growth of the cancer. The major problem with using radiation to approximate surgery in unresectable disease is that the radiation dose required to ablate pancreatic cancer exceeds the tolerance of the nearby duodenum. WR-2721, also known as amifostine, is a well-known radioprotector, but has significant clinical toxicities when given systemically. WR-2721 is a prodrug and is converted to its active metabolite, WR-1065, by alkaline phosphatases in normal tissues. The small intestine is highly enriched in these activating enzymes, and thus we reasoned that oral administration of WR-2721 just before radiation would result in localized production of the radioprotective WR-1065 in the small intestine, providing protective benefits without the significant systemic side effects. Here, we show that oral WR-2721 is as effective as intraperitoneal WR-2721 in promoting survival of intestinal crypt clonogens after morbid irradiation. Furthermore, oral WR-2721 confers full radioprotection and survival after lethal upper abdominal irradiation of 12.5Gy x 5 fractions (total of 62.5Gy, D2EQ=140.6Gy), which would likely ablate pancreatic cancer. We find that the efficacy of oral WR-2721 stems from its selective accumulation in the intestine, but not in tumors or other normal tissues, as determined by in vivo mass spectrometry analysis. Thus, we demonstrate that oral WR-2721 is a well-tolerated, and quantitatively selective, radioprotector of the intestinal tract that is capable of enabling clinically relevant ablative doses of radiation to the upper abdomen without unacceptable gastrointestinal toxicity.
Acoustic emission monitoring of a soil slope: Comparisons with continuous deformation measurements (2014)

Acoustic emission (AE) has become an established approach to monitor the stability of soil slopes. However, the challenge has been to develop strategies to interpret and quantify deformation behaviour from the measured AE. This paper presents the first comparison of continuous AE (measured using an active waveguide) and continuous subsurface deformation measurements. The active waveguide is installed in a borehole through a slope and comprises a metal waveguide rod or tube with a granular backfill surround. When the host slope deforms, the column of granular backfill also deforms, generating AE that can propagate along the waveguide. This paper presents results from a field trial at a reactivated soil slope in North Yorkshire, UK. The measurements confirm that AE rates generated are directly proportional to the velocity of slope movement (e.g. the AE rate versus velocity relationship determined for a series of slope movement events produced an R 2 value of 0·8) and demonstrate the performance of AE monitoring of active waveguides to provide continuous information on slope displacements and displacement rates with high temporal resolution.
CRL (1995)

The C/?egion Library (CRL) is a new all-software distributed shared memory (DSM) system. CRL requires no special compiler, hardware, or operating system support beyond the ability to send and receive messages. It provides a simple, portable, region-based shared address space programming model that is capab~e of delivering good performance on a wide range of multiprocessor and distributed system architectures. Each region is an arbitrarily sized, contiguous area of memory. The programmer defines regions and delimits accesses to them using annotations.
609 Development of Liquid Crystalline Micro Actuators : Numerical Simulation of an Influence of Imposed Electric Filed Frequency(2) (2006)

Simulation of velocity profiles of electric-fields induced nematic liquid crystalline flows between parallel plates has been achieved using the Leslie-Ericksen theory, as the fundamental research on the development of liquid crystalline micro-actuators. To obtain continuous movement of the micro-actuators, the pulsated electric field is applied on the nematic liquid crystal cell. The various frequencies of the applied electric filed are examined to explore the effect of the frequency on the movement of the cell upper plate. Responding to the pulsated electric field the director angle increase and decrease repeatedly. The clockwise and counter-clockwise rotational motion of the director induces forward and backward movement of the cell upper plate. When the frequency is high, smooth movement of the upper plate is obtained, apparently.