gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Synthèse, étude physico-chimique et évaluation biologique d'arylpyridines à visée nicotinique (2002)

Le travail decrit dans cette these porte sur la conception, la synthese, l'etude physico-chimique et l'evaluation biologique de nouveaux ligands des cholinergiques de structure chimique arylpyridine. Cette nouvelle famille de composes est issue du programme de recherche recepteurs nicotiniques initie recemment au Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche sur le Medicament de Normandie. Apres un rappel de generalites a propos des cholinergiques nicotiniques, leurs localisations, leurs structures, leurs differents sous-types, leurs roles biologiques et les ligands les plus caracteristiques qui leur sont associes, l'etude chimique est developpee. Les travaux realises concernent les differentes approches synthetiques developpees pour la preparation de composes appartenant a notre serie leader : les 6-alkyl-2-aryl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridin-4-ones, en serie racemique et chirale, ainsi que les multiples pharmacomodulations entreprises au niveau de ce motif afin de determiner les requis structuraux necessaires a l'activite biologique. Des voies de syntheses originales permettant l'acces a de nouvelles familles de derives ligands potentiels, utilisant les b-aminoacides comme precurseurs de synthese, sont egalement exposees. Les resultats pharmacologiques les plus significatifs, obtenus avec nos composes les plus actifs au cours de diverses etudes in vitro et comportementales in vivo, sont exposes. Ces etudes ont permis d'identifier un derive leader possedant un profil pharmacologique inedit de modulateur allosterique negatif des neuronaux. Enfin, la partie experimentale de ce document decrit l'ensemble des structures chimiques avec leurs caracteristiques physico-chimiques et plus de deux cents references bibliographiques placent cette etude dans ses contextes chimiques et pharmacologiques.
The pulse-probe method of conductivity measurement (1979)

An alternative to the steady heating of a cylindrical probe, in the 'needle-probe' method of conductivity measurement, is the observation of the thermal decay from a short, calibrated, heat pulse. The theoretical solution is the time-differential of that for the former method, and requires only the measurement of point temperatures rather than the determination of a gradient. A careful analysis of the theoretical decay function shows that it should be possible to make accurate conductivity measurements in as little as three probe 'time constants' if external information is available on the heat capacity of the medium. A self-contained method, using two temperature determinations from a record about six time-constants long, can be used where such information is not available. The theory was tested by measurements on the ocean-floor, and the data correspond to the theory when a correction was applied for some internal probe conduction problems.
Phosphorylation of Caldesmon by p21-activated Kinase (2000)

We have previously shown that p21-activated kinase, PAK, induces Ca(2+)-independent contraction of Triton-skinned smooth muscle with concomitant increase in phosphorylation of caldesmon and desmin but not myosin-regulatory light chain (Van Eyk, J. E., Arrell, D. K., Foster, D. B., Strauss, J. D., Heinonen, T. Y., Furmaniak-Kazmierczak, E., Cote, G. P., and Mak, A. S. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 23433-23439). In this study, we provide biochemical evidence implicating a role for PAK in Ca(2+)-independent contraction of smooth muscle via phosphorylation of caldesmon. Mass spectroscopy data show that stoichiometric phosphorylation occurs at Ser(657) and Ser(687) abutting the calmodulin-binding sites A and B of chicken gizzard caldesmon, respectively. Phosphorylation of Ser(657) and Ser(687) has an important functional impact on caldesmon. PAK-phosphorylation reduces binding of caldesmon to calmodulin by about 10-fold whereas binding of calmodulin to caldesmon partially inhibits PAK phosphorylation. Phosphorylated caldesmon displays a modest reduction in affinity for actin-tropomyosin but is significantly less effective in inhibiting actin-activated S1 ATPase activity in the presence of tropomyosin. We conclude that PAK-phosphorylation of caldesmon at the calmodulin-binding sites modulates caldesmon inhibition of actin-myosin ATPase activity and may, in concert with the actions of Rho-kinase, contribute to the regulation of Ca(2+) sensitivity of smooth muscle contraction.
Plasmon-Assisted Direction- and Polarization-Sensitive Organic Thin-Film Detector (2020)

Utilizing Bragg surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on metal nanostructures for the use in optical devices has been intensively investigated in recent years. Here, we demonstrate the integration of nanostructured metal electrodes into an ITO-free thin film bulk heterojunction organic solar cell, by direct fabrication on a nanoimprinted substrate. The nanostructured device shows interesting optical and electrical behavior, depending on angle and polarization of incidence and the side of excitation. Remarkably, for incidence through the top electrode, a dependency on linear polarization and angle of incidence can be observed. We show that these peculiar characteristics can be attributed to the excitation of dispersive and non-dispersive Bragg SPPs on the metal-dielectric interface on the top electrode and compare it with incidence through the bottom electrode. Furthermore, the optical and electrical response can be controlled by the organic photoactive material, the nanostructures, the materials used for the electrodes and the epoxy encapsulation. Our device can be used as a detector, which generates a direct electrical readout and therefore enables the measuring of the angle of incidence of up to 60° or the linear polarization state of light, in a spectral region, which is determined by the active material. Our results could furthermore lead to novel organic Bragg SPP-based sensor for a number of applications.
A New High-Resolution Spectral Approach to Noninvasively Evaluate Wall Deformations in Arteries (2014)

By locally measuring changes on arterial wall thickness as a function of pressure, the related Young modulus can be evaluated. This physical magnitude has shown to be an important predictive factor for cardiovascular diseases. For evaluating those changes, imaging segmentation or time correlations of ultrasonic echoes, coming from wall interfaces, are usually employed. In this paper, an alternative low-cost technique is proposed to locally evaluate variations on arterial walls, which are dynamically measured with an improved high-resolution calculation of power spectral densities in echo-traces of the wall interfaces, by using a parametric autoregressive processing. Certain wall deformations are finely detected by evaluating the echoes overtones peaks with power spectral estimations that implement Burg and Yule Walker algorithms. Results of this spectral approach are compared with a classical cross-correlation operator, in a tube phantom and "in vitro" carotid tissue. A circulating loop, mimicking heart periods and blood pressure changes, is employed to dynamically inspect each sample with a broadband ultrasonic probe, acquiring multiple A-Scans which are windowed to isolate echo-traces packets coming from distinct walls. Then the new technique and cross-correlation operator are applied to evaluate changing parietal deformations from the detection of displacements registered on the wall faces under periodic regime.
Coherent LQG Control, Free-Carrier Oscillations, Optical Ising Machines and Pulsed OPO Dynamics (2016)

Broadly speaking, this thesis is about nonlinear optics, quantum mechanics, and computing. More specifically, it covers four main topics: Coherent LQG Control, Free-Carrier Oscillations, Optical Ising Machines and Pulsed OPO Dynamics. Tying them all together is a theory of open quantum systems called the SLH model, which I introduce in Chapters 1-2. The SLH model is a general framework for open quantum systems that interact through bosonic fields, and is the basis for the quantum circuit theory developed in the text. Coherent LQG control is discussed in Chapters 3-4, where I demonstrate that coherent feedback outperforms measurement-based feedback for certain linear quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) problems, and explain the discrepancy by the former's simultaneous utilization of both light quadratures. Semiclassical truncated-Wigner techniques for quantum-optical networks are discussed in Chapter 5, leading to a thorough discussion of quantum noise in systems with free-carrier nonlinearities (Chapter 6), comparison to the Kerr nonlinearity, and potential applications for analog computing based on limit cycles and amplification (Chapters 7-8). Ising machines based on optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are discussed in Chapters 9-10, the former focusing on large 1D and 2D networks of OPOs, and the latter on the dynamics of a single OPO in the ultrafast, synchronously-pumped regime. Optical properties and design considerations for silicon photonic waveguides are are treated in Chapter 11.
Reliable Microjoints Formed by Solid–Liquid Interdiffusion (SLID) Bonding Within a Chip-Stacking Architecture (2012)

In this research, thousands of 20-μm pitch microbumps with a diameter of 10 μm and a structure of a pure Sn cap on a Cu pillar were electroplated on 8-inch wafers, and those wafers were then respectively singularized as a top chip and bottom Si interposer for stacking. Two methods, namely conventional reflow and solid-liquid interdiffusion (SLID) bonding, were adopted to interconnect the microbumps. In the former case, the as-plated Sn caps were fluxed, and the chip was then placed on the Si interposer. Afterward, the Sn caps on the chip and on the Si interposer were melted and interconnected at a peak temperature of 250 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">°</sup> C. The flux residues were cleaned after reflow, and the microgap between the chip and the Si interposer was fully sealed by a capillary underfill. In the SLID bonding process, the oxides on the as-plated Sn caps were removed by a plasma etcher first, and then the chip was placed on the interposer with a bonder as well, subsequently, the Sn caps were heated to 260°C to react with the Cu pillar to form Cu <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> Sn <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sub> . In the final step, the intermetallic microjoints were protected by the same capillary underfill. After assembly, the Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council preconditioning test was used to screen the test vehicles for reliability assessment, and then a temperature cycling test was performed to predict the lifespan of the microjoints. The test results showed that the microjoints formed by SLID bonding provided a superior reliability performance to those assembled by reflow. The fracture of the microjoints was caused by the volume contraction induced by the growth of Cu <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> Sn <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sub> , but the failure mechanisms of those two microjoints were quite different.
Neutralization of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) but not of IL-1 reduces inflammation in chronic dextran sulphate sodium-induced colitis in mice (1997)

The cytokines TNF and IL-1 have been implicated as mediators of the inflammatory processes in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). To investigate the role of these cytokines in mucosal inflammation we used anti-cytokine strategies in a mouse model of acute and chronic colitis. Mice which received 5% dextran sulphate sodium (DSS) in their drinking water showed signs of acute colitis on day 4, with severe weight loss and bloody diarrhoea. Chronic colitis was established after four cycles of feeding 5% DSS for 7 days and water for 10 days, with the mice showing diarrhoea but no weight loss. In acute colitis, treatment with anti-IL-1 reagents, anti-TNF MoAb, or dexamethasone (DEX) led to aggravation. By contrast, in chronic colitis, treatment of mice with several IL-1 activity-inhibiting reagents failed to show significant effects, whereas anti-TNF MoAb or DEX significantly reduced the colitis. We conclude that in acute colitis IL-1 and TNF are beneficial, whereas in chronic colitis, TNF but not IL-1 seems to play a major role in perpetuation of chronic inflammation.
Polarization mode selective channel waveguides in an InGaAs/InP disordered superlattice (1990)

Optical channel waveguides which can selectively confine transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes were successfully fabricated in an InGaAs/InP superlattice disordered by Si3N4 cap annealing. The extinction ratio of mode selectivity was found to be 13 dB in both single-mode channel waveguides at the 1.52 μm wavelength. The induced variation in refractive indices by disordering is estimated to be 1–2×10−3.
Swine flu: provision of ventilation in a worst-case scenario (2009)

As a busy intensive care unit in a district general hospital in the UK, we are intrigued by the worst-case scenario plans for swine flu in our region and the ubiquitous algorithms that form part of this planning.

A Department of Health document suggests for the purposes of planning that, during a first major UK pandemic wave, the peak clinical attack rate per week would be 8% [1]. Of these patients, the hospitalization rate would be 2% - and 25% of these would require intensive care if the capacity exists.

Our hospital serves a population of 220,000. In our region, these estimates suggest that 352 patients will require hospital admission each week during the peak. Using these calculations, we could expect 88 patients per week to require intensive care unit support.

In this hospital, there is the capacity to provide mechanical ventilation to 25 patients (utilizing all ventilators and anaesthetic machines). Clearly, as this is primarily a disease affecting the respiratory system, demand for mechanical ventilation could vastly outstrip supply.

This lack of equipment will mean either severe rationing of treatment or obtaining more ventilators from an external source. At a time of heightened national demand, the latter is unlikely to be achieved.

In the polio epidemic of the 1950s, patients were manually ventilated by medical students and anyone else on hand as the small number of cuirass ventilators was rapidly overwhelmed by clinical cases [2]. When we receive our 26th mechanically ventilated patient, rather than being unable to provide positive pressure ventilation, we propose - in a worst-case scenario - a return to basics.

Our solution to this problem is to order 200 disposable bag-valve masks with adjustable positive end-expiratory pressure valves. This solution is conveniently a cost-neutral approach to the single organ support as we already use disposable bag-valve masks throughout the trust. Clinical staff are fully trained in their use, and support staff and relatives could be utilized. Any excess stock could be used as part of normal resource turnover.

A similar issue might occur with the requirement for renal replacement therapy in large numbers of patients. In this scenario, perhaps a similar solution would be a return to continuous arteriovenous haemodiafiltration - which requires only a simple disposable item rather than the complex and limited resource of haemofiltration machines.
ChemInform Abstract: Total Synthesis of (+)‐Leinamycin. (1995)

Abstract ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.
Les tourbières du Vieux Continent se meurent (2020)

Le constat est alarmant : au cours de ces 300 dernières années, depuis le début de l’ère industrielle, les tourbières européennes ont subi un assèchement généralisé dû essentiellement aux activités humaines. Or, ces biotopes contribuent fortement à l’équilibre écologique de la planète en absorbant bien plus de CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; qu’elles n’en rejettent. La fonction de puits de carbone joué par les tourbières est désormais menacée, selon une étude à laquelle a contribué Edward Mitchell, professeur de biologie à l’Université de Neuchâtel où il dirige le Laboratoire de biodiversité du sol.
Faculty Opinions recommendation of Outcome of toric intraocular lenses implanted in eyes with previous corneal refractive surgery. (2020)

PURPOSE: To evaluate the outcome of toric intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in eyes with previous laser in situ keratomileusis/photorefractive keratectomy (LASIK/PRK).SETTING: Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.DESIGN: Retrospective case series.METHODS: Consecutive cases that had previous myopic or hyperopic LASIK/PRK and had undergone cataract surgery with toric IOL implantation were retrospectively reviewed. Included were eyes that had (1) preoperative ocular biometry measurements with the Lenstar, (2) no intraoperative or postoperative complications, and (3) available postoperative manifest refraction at ≥3 weeks with corrected distance visual acuity of 20/30 or better. Vector analysis was used to assess the preoperative corneal and postoperative refractive astigmatism.RESULTS: In 56 eyes with previous myopic LASIK/PRK and 19 eyes with previous hyperopic LASIK/PRK, respectively, the mean magnitudes of corneal astigmatism were 1.34 ± 0.62 diopters (D) and 1.66 ± 0.80 D, 5% and 0% of eyes had anterior corneal astigmatism ≤0.50 D, and the centroid values were 0.31 D at 19 degrees ± 1.45 D and 0.74 D at 92 degrees ± 1.72 D preoperatively. Postoperatively, the mean magnitudes of refractive astigmatism were 0.36 ± 0.31 D and 0.34 ± 0.34 D, 80% and 84% of eyes had refractive astigmatism of ≤0.50 D, and the centroid values were 0.12 D at 152 degrees ± 0.46 D and 0.05 D at 172 degrees ± 0.48 D (all P < .05).CONCLUSIONS: Toric IOLs were effective to correct preexisting corneal astigmatism in eyes with previous excimer laser corneal refractive surgery. PMID: 32271520
Protein Kinase Cθ Controls Th1 Cells in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (2005)

Molecules that regulate encephalitogenic T cells are of interest for multiple sclerosis. In this study we show that protein kinase Ctheta (PKCtheta) is critical for the development of Ag-specific Th1 cells in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of multiple sclerosis. PKCtheta-deficient mice immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein failed to develop cell infiltrates and Th1 cytokines in the CNS and were resistant to the development of clinical EAE. CD4 T cells became primed and accumulated in secondary lymphoid organs in the absence of PKCtheta, but had severely diminished IFN-gamma, TNF, and IL-17 production. Increasing Ag exposure and inflammatory conditions failed to induce EAE in PKCtheta-deficient mice, showing a profound defect in the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-reactive T cell population. These data provide evidence of a pivotal role for PKCtheta in the generation and effector function of autoimmune Th1 cells.
RS-1Gene Delivery to an AdultRs1hKnockout Mouse Model Restores ERG b-Wave with Reversal of the Electronegative Waveform of X-Linked Retinoschisis (2004)

The RS-KO mouse mimics structural features of human X-linked juvenile retinoschisis with dissection through, and disorganization of, multiple retinal layers. The Rs1h-KO functional deficit results in an electronegative ERG waveform that is characteristic of human retinoschisis disease and that implicates a synaptic transmission deficit in the absence of retinoschisin protein. Replacement therapy by supplementing normal Rs1h protein in the adult Rs1h-KO mouse restored the normal ERG configuration. This indicates that gene therapy is a viable strategy of therapeutic intervention even in the postdevelopmental adult stage of XLRS disease.
Diblock copolymers, micelles, and shell‐crosslinked nanoparticles containing poly(4‐fluorostyrene): Tools for detailed analyses of nanostructured materials (2001)

Abstract Amphiphilic core–shell nanostructures containing 19 F stable isotopic labels located regioselectively within the core domain were prepared by a combination of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), supramolecular assembly, and condensation‐based crosslinking. Homopolymers and diblock copolymers containing 4‐fluorostyrene and methyl acrylate were prepared by ATRP, hydrolyzed, assembled into micelles, and converted into shell‐crosslinked nanoparticles (SCKs) by covalent stabilization of the acrylic acid residues in the shell. The ATRP‐based polymerizations, producing the homopolymers and diblock copolymers, were initiated by (1‐bromoethyl)benzene in the presence of CuBr metal and employed N,N,N ′ ,N ″ ,N ″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine as the coordinating ligand for controlled polymerizations at 75–90 °C for 1–3 h. Number‐average molecular weights ranged from 2000 to 60,000 Da, and molecular weight distributions, generally less than 1.1 and 1.2, were achieved for the homopolymers and diblock copolymers, respectively. Methyl acrylate conversions as high as 70% were possible, without observable chain–chain coupling reactions or molecular weight distribution broadening, when bromoalkyl‐terminated poly(4‐fluorostyrene) was used as the macroinitiator. Poly(4‐fluorostyrene), incorporated as the second segment in the diblock copolymer synthesis, was initiated from a bromoalkyl‐terminated poly(methyl acrylate) macroinitiator. After hydrolysis of the poly(methyl acrylate) block segments, micelles were formed from the resulting amphiphilic block copolymers in aqueous solutions and were then stabilized by covalent intramicellar crosslinking throughout the poly(acrylic acid) shells to yield SCKs. The SCK nanostructures on solid substrates were visualized by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Dynamic light scattering was used to probe the effects of crosslinking on the resulting hydrodynamic diameters of nanoparticles in aqueous and buffered solutions. The presence of fluorine atoms in the diblock copolymers and resulting SCK nanostructures allowed for characterization by 19 F NMR in addition to 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, and IR spectroscopy. © 2001 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 4152–4166, 2001
A Multi-layer ADaptive FUnction Neural Network (MADFUNN) for Analytical Function Recognition (2006)

In our previous work, we developed an adaptive function neural network (ADFUNN) [1]. ADFUNN is based on a linear piecewise neuron activation function that is modified by a novel gradient descent supervised learning algorithm. The simulation results of applying ADFUNN to XOR, Iris dataset, and the natural language processing task of phrase recognition [2] reveal that without any hidden neuron ADFUNN offers several advancements over the traditional Single-Layer Perceptron (SLP). Linearly inseparable problems can be solved [1, 2] by ADFUNN, and the learned function of ADFUNN supports intelligent data analysis. In this paper, smoothed learned functions [3] are prepared for recognising their closest fit to a set of analytical functions. We generated 1400 training patterns, for six commonly used analytical function classes plus one non function class, and introduce a Multi-layer ADFUNN (MADFUNN) for this problem [4]. As expected, MADFUNN solves the function recognition task more accurately than a simple back-propagation network and requires fewer hidden neurons.