gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Equality of Educational Opportunity Myth or Reality in U.S. Schooling (2009)

To explore whether equality of educational opportunities is a reality in US eighth grade mathematics classrooms, this paper utilizes data from US states and districts that participated in the 1999 TIMSS-R study. Analyses explore the relationship between classroom coverage of specific mathematics content and student achievement as measured by the TIMSS-R international mathematics scaled score. District/state level SES indicators demonstrated significant relationships with both the dependent variable of interest, mathematics achievement, and the classroom level measure of content coverage. A 3-level model demonstrated a significant effect of classroom content coverage on student achievement while controlling for student background at the student level and SES at all three levels, documenting significant differences in mathematics learning opportunities among US eighth grade classrooms. Equality of Educational Opportunity ii u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u
ChemInform Abstract: A Clean, Palladium‐Catalyzed Oxidative Esterification of Aldehydes Using Benzyl Chloride. (2011)

Abstract The use of benzyl chloride as the oxidant allows the conversion of aldehydes into the corresponding ethyl esters under mild conditions with toluene as the sole by‐product.
Interspecific hybridization in plant‐associated fungi and oomycetes: a review (2003)

Fungi (kingdom Mycota) and oomycetes (kingdom Stramenopila, phylum Oomycota) are crucially important in the nutrient cycles of the world. Their interactions with plants sometimes benefit and sometimes act to the detriment of humans. Many fungi establish ecologically vital mutualisms, such as in mycorrhizal fungi that enhance nutrient acquisition, and endophytes that combat insects and other herbivores. Other fungi and many oomycetes are plant pathogens that devastate natural and agricultural populations of plant species. Studies of fungal and oomycete evolution were extraordinarily difficult until the advent of molecular phylogenetics. Over the past decade, researchers applying these new tools to fungi and oomycetes have made astounding new discoveries, among which is the potential for interspecific hybridization. Consequences of hybridization among pathogens include adaptation to new niches such as new host species, and increased or decreased virulence. Hybrid mutualists may also be better adapted to new hosts and can provide greater or more diverse benefits to host plants.
Whole-brain circuit dissection in free-moving animals reveals cell-specific mesocorticolimbic networks (2013)

The ability to map the functional connectivity of discrete cell types in the intact mammalian brain during behavior is crucial for advancing our understanding of brain function in normal and disease states. We combined designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drug (DREADD) technology and behavioral imaging with μPET and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to generate whole-brain metabolic maps of cell-specific functional circuits during the awake, freely moving state. We have termed this approach DREADD-assisted metabolic mapping (DREAMM) and documented its ability in rats to map whole-brain functional anatomy. We applied this strategy to evaluating changes in the brain associated with inhibition of prodynorphin-expressing (Pdyn-expressing) and of proenkephalin-expressing (Penk-expressing) medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh), which have been implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders. DREAMM revealed discrete behavioral manifestations and concurrent engagement of distinct corticolimbic networks associated with dysregulation of Pdyn and Penk in MSNs of the NAcSh. Furthermore, distinct neuronal networks were recruited in awake versus anesthetized conditions. These data demonstrate that DREAMM is a highly sensitive, molecular, high-resolution quantitative imaging approach.
Enhanced Precision Through Multiple Reads for LDPC Decoding in Flash Memories (2014)

Multiple reads of the same Flash memory cell with distinct word-line voltages provide enhanced precision for LDPC decoding. In this paper, the word-line voltages are optimized by maximizing the mutual information (MI) of the quantized channel. The enhanced precision from a few additional reads allows frame error rate (FER) performance to approach that of full-precision soft information and enables an LDPC code to significantly outperform a BCH code. A constant-ratio constraint provides a significant simplification in the optimization with no noticeable loss in performance. For a well-designed LDPC code, the quantization that maximizes the mutual information also minimizes the FER in our simulations. However, for an example LDPC code with a high error floor caused by small absorbing sets, the MMI quantization does not provide the lowest frame error rate. The best quantization in this case introduces more erasures than would be optimal for the channel MI in order to mitigate the absorbing sets of the poorly designed code. The paper also identifies a trade-off in LDPC code design when decoding is performed with multiple precision levels; the best code at one level of precision will typically not be the best code at a different level of precision.
Comparison of nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 detection in 353 patients received tests with both specimens simultaneously (2020)

In conclusion, our study suggests that nasopharyngeal swabs may be more suitable than oropharyngeal swab at this stage of COVID-19 outbreak.
Buffer breakdown in GaN-on-Si HEMTs: A comprehensive study based on a sequential growth experiment (2019)

Abstract The aim of this work is to investigate the breakdown mechanisms of the layers constituting the vertical buffer of GaN-on-Si HEMTs; in addition, for the first time we demonstrate that the breakdown field of the AlN nucleation layer grown on a silicon substrate is equal to 3.2 MV/cm and evaluate its temperature dependence. To this aim, three samples, obtained by stopping the epitaxial growth of a GaN on Silicon stack at different steps, are studied and compared: Si/AlN, Si/AlN/AlGaN, full vertical stack up to the Carbon doped buffer layer. The current-voltage (IV) characterizations performed at both room temperature and high temperature show that: (i) the defectiveness of the AlN nucleation layer is the root cause of the leakage through an AlN/Silicon junction, and causes the vertical I-V characteristics to have a high device-to-device variability; (ii) the first AlGaN layer grown over the AlN, beside improving the breakdown voltage of the whole structure, causes the leakage current to be more stable and uniform across the sample area; (iii) a thick strain-relief stack and a carbon-doped GaN buffer enhance the breakdown voltage up to more than 750 V at 170 °C, and guarantee a remarkably low device-to-device variability. Furthermore, a set of constant voltage stress on the Si/AlN sample demonstrate that the aluminum nitride layer shows a time dependent breakdown, with Weibull-distributed failures and a shape factor greater than 1, in line with the percolation model.
Instrumented impact properties of zircaloy-oxygen and zircaloy-hydrogen alloys (1980)

Instrumented-impact tests were performed on subsize Charpy speciments of Zircaloy-2 and -4 with up to approx. 1.3 wt % oxygen and approx. 2500 wt ppM hydrogen at temperatures between 373 and 823/sup 0/K. Self-consistent criteria for the ductile-to-brittle transition, based upon a total absorbed energy of approx. 1.3 x 10/sup 4/ J/m/sup 2/, a dynamic fracture toughness of approx. 10 MPa.m/sup 1/2/, and a ductility index of approx. 0, were established relative to the temperature and oxygen concentration of the transformed BETA-phase material. The effect of hydrogen concentration and hydride morphology, produced by cooling Zircaloy-2 specimens through the temperature range of the BETA ..-->.. ..cap alpha..' = hydride phase transformation at approx. 0.3 and 3 K/s, on the impact properties was determined at temperatures between 373 and 673 K. On an atom fraction basis, oxygen has a greater effect than hydrogen on the impact properties of Zircaloy at temperatures between approx. 400 and 600 K. 34 figures.
AAPM TG158: Measurement and calculation of doses outside the treated volume from external‐beam radiation therapy (2017)

The introduction of advanced techniques and technology in radiotherapy has greatly improved our ability to deliver highly conformal tumor doses while minimizing the dose to adjacent organs at risk. Despite these tremendous improvements, there remains a general concern about doses to normal tissues that are not the target of the radiation treatment; any "nontarget" radiation should be minimized as it offers no therapeutic benefit. As patients live longer after treatment, there is increased opportunity for late effects including second cancers and cardiac toxicity to manifest. Complicating the management of these issues, there are unique challenges with measuring, calculating, reducing, and reporting nontarget doses that many medical physicists may have limited experience with. Treatment planning systems become dramatically inaccurate outside the treatment field, necessitating a measurement or some other means of assessing the dose. However, measurements are challenging because outside the treatment field, the radiation energy spectrum, dose rate, and general shape of the dose distribution (particularly the percent depth dose) are very different and often require special consideration. Neutron dosimetry is also particularly challenging, and common errors in methodology can easily manifest as errors of several orders of magnitude. Task Group 158 was, therefore, formed to provide guidance for physicists in terms of assessing and managing nontarget doses. In particular, the report: (a) highlights major concerns with nontarget radiation; (b) provides a rough estimate of doses associated with different treatment approaches in clinical practice; (c) discusses the uses of dosimeters for measuring photon, electron, and neutron doses; (d) discusses the use of calculation techniques for dosimetric evaluations; (e) highlights techniques that may be considered for reducing nontarget doses; (f) discusses dose reporting; and (g) makes recommendations for both clinical and research practice.
Measurement of the Bd0 meson oscillation frequency (1996)

Time-dependent Bd0-Bd0 mixing is studied using 1.5 million hadronic Z decays collected by L3. Semileptonic B decays are selected by requiring at least one reconstructed lepton in both thrust hemispheres. Charge correlations between the tagged leptons are studied as a function of proper time. The proper time of the b-hadron decay is measured by reconstructing the production and decay vertices using a silicon microvertex detector. The measured Bd0 meson oscillation frequency corresponds to a mass difference Δmd between the two Bd0 mass eigenstates of Δmd = (0.496−0.051+0.055 (stat) ± 0.043 (syst)) ps−1.
MRI characteristics and scoring in HDLS due to CSF1R gene mutations (2012)

Recognition of the typical MRI patterns of HDLS and the use of an MRI severity score might help during the diagnostic evaluation to characterize the natural history and to monitor potential future treatments. Indicators of rapid disease progression were symptomatic disease onset before 45 years, female sex, WMLs extending beyond the frontal regions, a MRI severity score greater than 15 points, and mutation type of deletion.
Improving animal welfare and reducing animal use for veterinary vaccine potency testing: state of the science and future directions (2011)

Veterinary vaccines contribute to improved human and animal health and welfare by preventing diseases and deaths caused by a wide range of infectious agents. However, testing necessary to ensure vaccine effectiveness and safety can involve large numbers of animals and significant pain and distress. NICEATM and ICCVAM convened an international workshop to review the state of the science of human and veterinary vaccine potency and safety testing methods and to identify opportunities to advance new and improved methods that can further reduce, refine, and replace animal use. This workshop report is the fourth in a series of six, and addresses methods and strategies for veterinary vaccine potency testing that can avoid or lessen pain and distress, improve animal welfare, and reduce animal use. Vaccine potency tests considered to have the highest priority for further reduction and refinement were those that require an infectious agent challenge test or an in vivo toxin neutralization test, those that require large numbers of animals, and those that require the use of infectious agents hazardous to laboratory workers and/or animals. Vaccines identified as high priorities for improved alternative test methods were rabies, Clostridium spp., Leptospira spp., foreign animal diseases (e.g., foot and mouth disease), and poultry and fish vaccines. The workshop recommended priority research, development, and validation activities to address critical knowledge and data gaps, including opportunities to apply new science and technology. Recommendations to support more humane animal use included development and use of humane endpoints for all challenge tests, development of serologic assays to replace challenge tests, and development of in vitro toxin neutralization tests to replace in vivo TNTs. Workshop participants recommended approaches to reduce the number of animals required for potency testing, and recommended enhanced international harmonization and cooperation, and closer collaborations between human and veterinary researchers to expedite progress in the development and application of alternative methods. Implementation of the workshop recommendations is expected to advance new methods for veterinary vaccine potency testing that will benefit animal welfare and reduce animal use while ensuring continued protection of human and animal health.
Three-dimensional tracking using on-board measurements (1991)

The development of a three-dimensional tracker using onboard measurements is described. A system model based on aircraft dynamics is derived. A full 3-D tracking system that can be split, with a part operating onboard and a part operating on the ground, is developed. Attitude angle and aircraft airspeed measurements are processed to estimate the components of the aircraft velocity with respect to the surrounding air. These are then used to obtain estimates of the aircraft position and ground speed. The tracker is designed so that the number of quantities transmitted to the ground station is kept to a minimum. The tracker was evaluated with real data and was found to perform well, resulting in a considerable improvement over the conventional first-order Kalman filter.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>
Dielectric susceptibility measurements of the primary and secondary relaxation in polybutadiene (1995)

We present data on the dielectric relaxation in the random copolymer polybutadiene. There are two distinct peaks in the imaginary part of the dielectric susceptibility, one of which is attributable to an \ensuremath{\alpha} relaxation and the other to a Johari-Goldstein \ensuremath{\beta} relaxation. The bifurcation of these two relaxations explains the previously reported decoupling of microscopic and macroscopic time scales in polybutadiene. We show that the spectral shape of the Johari-Goldstein relaxation is consistent with a log-normal response function.
Comparison of Respiratory Inductance Plethysmography With Thoracoabdominal Compression in Bronchial Challenges in Infants and Young Children (1996)

Respiratory inductance plethysmography measuring thoracoabdominal asynchrony (TAA) has been claimed to be a useful tool for measuring changes in airway resistance in infants. In this study we evaluated the response to methacholine by thoracoabdominal compression and respiratory inductance plethysmography. Seventeen infants (mean age, 13.1 +/- 4.7 mo) with recurrent episodes of cough or wheeze underwent bronchial challenge with inhaled methacholine. Lung function was evaluated by measuring maximal expiratory flow at resting lung volume (VmaxFRC), and the degree of TAA was measured by phase angle (theta). Methacholine was inhaled for 1 min during tidal breathing using increasing doubling concentrations until a fall of at least 40% in VmaxFRC was achieved (final concentration). All infants responded to the final concentration of methacholine by a significant fall in VmaxFRC (from 31 +/- 10 to 12 +/- 5 ml/s/kg, p < 0.001). All but one infant responded to methacholine at the final concentration with a significant increase in phase angle (median theta increased from 11.7 to 31.7 degrees, p < 0.001). In two other infants there was an early response in theta compared with the response in VmaxFRC. Phase angle increase after methacholine was expressed as Z-scores (the difference between postmethacholine theta and postbuffer theta divided by the standard deviation of postbuffer theta). An increase of at least 2.0 Z-scores in theta was observed at the same concentration of methacholine when VmaxFRC fell by at least 40% in 15 of the 17 infants (88%). We conclude that respiratory inductance plethysmography is a sensitive method to measure bronchial reactivity to methacholine in most of the infants studied (14 of 17, 82%). A concentration of methacholine causing an increase in theta of at least 2.0 standard deviations above baseline is equivalent to the concentration causing a 40% fall in VmaxFRC.
Production of Single-Domain Magnetite Throughout Life by Sockeye Salmon, Oncorhynchus Nerka (1988)

Although single-domain particles of biogenic magnetite have been found in different species of pelagic fishes, nothing is known about when it is synthesized, or about whether the time during life when it is produced is correlated with the development of responses to magnetic field stimuli. We have investigated production of biogenic magnetite suitable for use in magnetoreception in different life stages of the sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum). Sockeye salmon were chosen because responses in orientation arenas to magnetic field stimuli have been demonstrated in both fry and smolt stages of this species. We found significant quantities of single-domain magnetite in connective tissue from the ethmoid region of the skull of adult (4-year-old) sockeye salmon. The ontogenetic study revealed an orderly increase in the amount of magnetic material in the same region of the skull but not in other tissues of sockeye salmon fry, yearlings and smolts. The physical properties of this material closely matched those of magnetite particles extracted from the ethmoid tissue of the adult fish. We suggest that single-domain magnetite particles suitable for use in magnetoreception are produced throughout life in the ethmoid region of the skull in sockeye salmon. Based on theoretical calculations, we conclude that there are enough particles present in the skulls of the fry to mediate their responses to magnetic field direction. By the smolt stage, the amount of magnetite present in the front of the skull is sufficient to provide the fish with a magnetoreceptor capable of detecting small changes in the intensity of the geomagnetic field. Other tissues of the salmon, such as the eye and skin, often contained ferromagnetic material, although the magnetizations of these tissues were usually more variable than in the ethmoid tissue. These deposits of unidentified magnetic material, some of which may be magnetite, appear almost exclusively in adults and so would not be useful in magnetoreception by young fish. We suggest that tissue from within the ethmoid region of the skull in pelagic fishes is the only site yet identified where magnetite suitable for use in magnetoreception is concentrated.
Effect of fish oil on atherogenesis in Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit. (1990)

The effect of dietary supplementation with fish oil was investigated in the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit. Rabbits were fed Maxepa (1 g/kg body weight) from weaning for a 6-month period and were compared to controls. Fish oil supplements resulted in significant decreases in plasma triglyceride and cholesterol at 4 weeks after the start of the study, and these differences persisted over the 6-month period. No differences in the distribution of cholesterol or triglyceride among lipoprotein particles were found, nor were there differences in low density lipoprotein particle size. The decreases in plasma cholesterol and triglyceride were accompanied by significant increases in the percent of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in both plasma and platelets. Fish oil supplementation resulted in a decrease in platelet count and response to the aggregating agents adenosine diphosphate, arachidonic acid, and collagen. Systolic blood pressure was significantly lower in the rabbits fed fish oil. At the end of the study period, aortic free and esterified cholesterol and intimal surface area covered with plaque were determined in the arch and in the descending and abdominal aorta. Significantly less cholesterol was found in the descending and abdominal aorta. These differences were mirrored by decreased activities of acid lipase and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase. In contrast, no differences in the intimal surface area covered with plaque were found. In conclusion, dietary fish oil resulted in a decrease in aortic lipid deposition in the WHHL rabbit, which may have been due to decreases in plasma triglyceride and cholesterol, platelet count and aggregability, and systolic blood pressure.
A pathogen effector FOLD diversified in symbiotic fungi (2023)

Pathogenic fungi use secreted effector proteins to suppress immunity and support their infection, but effectors have also been reported from fungi that engage in nutritional symbioses with plants. Sequence-based effector comparisons between pathogens and symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are hampered by the huge diversity of effector sequences even within closely related microbes. To find sequence-divergent but structurally similar effectors shared between symbiotic and pathogenic fungi, we compared secreted protein structure models of the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis to known pathogen effectors. We identified proteins with structural similarity to known Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici dual domain (FOLD) effectors, which occur in low numbers in several fungal pathogens. Contrastingly, FOLD genes from AM fungi (MycFOLDs) are found in enlarged and diversified gene families with higher levels of positive selection in their C-terminal domains. Our structure model comparison suggests that MycFOLDs are similar to carbohydrate-binding motifs. Different MycFOLD genes are expressed during colonisation of different hosts and MycFOLD-17 transcripts accumulate in plant intracellular arbuscules. The exclusive presence of MycFOLDs across unrelated plant-colonising fungi, their inducible expression, lineage-specific sequence diversification and transcripts in arbuscules suggest that FOLD proteins act as effectors during plant colonisation of symbiotic and pathogenic fungi.
Printable and flexible electronics: from TFTs to bioelectronic devices (2015)

This review discusses the state-of-the-art strategies for realizing TFTs by printing compatible techniques, focusing the attention on label-free electronic biosensors.
All-Optical Signal Regeneration using Pulse Trapping in Birefringent Fibers (2010)

We demonstrated novel all-optical signal regeneration using pulse trapping. Amplification, re-timing, and pulse shaping were demonstrated in only a 140 m-long standard low birefringent fiber. A large gain of 20 dB was observed.
A network-based, integrative study to identify core biological pathways that drive breast cancer clinical subtypes (2012)

Clinical subtype-specific driver-networks identified through data integration are reproducible and functionally important.