gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Increased KPI containing amyloid precursor protein in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis brains (2007)

Amyloid precursor protein can be translated from three alternatively spliced mRNAs. We measured levels of amyloid precursor protein isoforms containing the Kunitz protease inhibitor domain (KPIAPP), and amyloid precursor protein without the Kunitz protease inhibitor domain (KPIAPP) in brain homogenates of acute experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice. At the preclinical phase of the disease, both KPIAPP and KPIAPP levels were significantly higher in homogenates from brains of autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice, whereas at the acute phase of the disease only KPIAPP remained significantly elevated compared with controls. At the recovery phase, no differences were observed between the groups. The early and isoform-specific elevation of KPIAPP in autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice suggests a possible role for amyloid precursor protein in the immune response mediating the disease.
Divergent Effects of the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Antagonist Kynurenic Acid and the Synthetic Analog SZR-72 on Microcirculatory and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Experimental Sepsis (2020)

<b>Introduction:</b> Sepsis is a dysregulated host response to infection with macro- and microhemodynamic deterioration. Kynurenic acid (KYNA) is a metabolite of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan catabolism with pleiotropic cell-protective effects under pro-inflammatory conditions. Our aim was to investigate whether exogenously administered KYNA or the synthetic analog SZR-72 affects the microcirculation and mitochondrial function in a clinically relevant rodent model of intraabdominal sepsis. <b>Methods:</b> Male Sprague-Dawley rats (<i>n</i> = 8/group) were subjected to fecal peritonitis (0.6 g kg<sup>-1</sup> feces ip) or a sham operation. Septic animals were treated with sterile saline or received ip KYNA or SZR-72 (160 μmol kg<sup>-1</sup> each) 16 and 22 h after induction. Invasive monitoring was performed on anesthetized animals to evaluate respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, hepatic and metabolic dysfunctions (PaO<sub>2</sub>/FiO<sub>2</sub> ratio, mean arterial pressure, urea, AST/ALT ratio and lactate levels, respectively) based on the Rat Organ Failure Assessment (ROFA) score. The ratio of perfused vessels (PPV) of the ileal serosa was quantified with the intravital imaging technique. Complex I- and II-linked (CI; CII) oxidative phosphorylation capacities (OXPHOS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨmt) were evaluated by High-Resolution FluoRespirometry (O2k, Oroboros, Austria) in liver biopsies. Plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1), IL-6, intestinal nitrotyrosine (NT) and xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) activities were measured as inflammatory markers. <b>Results:</b> Sepsis was characterized by an increased ROFA score (5.3 ± 1.3 vs. 1.3 ± 0.7), increased ET-1, IL-6, NT and XOR levels, and decreased serosal PPV (65 ± 12% vs. 87 ± 7%), ΔΨmt and CI-CII-linked OXPHOS (73 ± 16 vs. 158 ± 14, and 189 ± 67 vs. 328 ± 81, respectively) as compared to controls. Both KYNA and SZR-72 reduced systemic inflammatory activation; KYNA treatment decreased serosal perfusion heterogeneity, restored PPV (85 ± 11%) and complex II-linked OXPHOS (307 ± 38), whereas SZR-72 improved both CI- and CII-linked OXPHOS (CI: 117 ± 18; CII: 445 ± 107) without effects on PPV 24 h after sepsis induction. <b>Conclusion:</b> Treatment with SZR-72 directly modulates mitochondrial respiration, leading to improved conversion of ADP to ATP, while administration of KYNA restores microcirculatory dysfunction. The results suggest that microcirculatory and mitochondrial resuscitation with KYNA or the synthetic analog SZR-72 might be an appropriate supportive tool in sepsis therapy.
Special articles on zeolite chemistry and technology. Control of gas adsorbability of zeolites by chemical vapor deposition of silanes. (1989)

ケイ素のアルコキシドをゼオライトの表面ヒドロキシル基との反応により固定化し, 引き続く加水分解により Si02 薄層を生成させる方法 (CVD法) により, モルデナイト, X型, A型ゼオライトの細孔口径を制御し, それにともなう i-C4H10, C3H8, Xe, N2, Ar, O2 の吸着特性の変化を調べた。CVD処理によりゼオライト外表面に選択的にSiO2薄層が生成し, その生成量は CVD 処理回数, 時間および用いるアルコキシドの種類により制御できた。CVD処理回数や時間 (SiO2 薄層生成量) の増加とともに分子径の大きいガスから吸着量や吸着速度が減少していくことを見いだし, CVD処理によるSiO2薄層の生成の結果として細孔口径がせばめられ, より大きいガス分子ほど細孔入口での制限を受けるようになることが明らかとなった。またCVD処理によるガス吸着特性の制御の効率は, ゼオライトの細孔口径のみならず細孔構造にも依存することが示唆された。
P4–332: γ‐glutamylcysteine (GGC)‐mediated upregulation of glutathione levels can ameliorate toxicity of natural beta‐amyloid oligomers in primary adult human neurons (2013)

Soluble amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers can induce oxidative stress, synaptic dysfunction and memory deficits which are present in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Exogenous Aβ(1–42) has been previously shown to induce oxidative stress and deplete the levels of the important endogenous antioxidant glutathione (GSH). However, the effect of Aβ oligomers isolated from natural sources such as AD brain extracts and cerebrospinal fluid, on GSH levels in primary adult human neurons has not been previously investigated. Moreover, administration of γ-glutamylcysteine (GGC) can increase intracellular levels of GSH, by circumventing the regulation of GSH biosynthesis by providing the limiting substrate. Using isolated pure cultures of primary adult human neurons, we examined the neuroprotective effects of increased GSH levels by GGC against the oxidative and cytotoxic effects of soluble Aβ oligomers extracted from post-mortem AD brains. More specifically, we assessed protein oxidation and lipid peroxidation in vitro using standard spectrophotometric assay kits. The conformation structure of Aβ oligomers in the presence of GGC was assessed using immunoflourescence microscopy. GGC treatment to neurons led to a significant upregulation of GSH levels compared to non-treated control cells, and protected neurons against protein, and lipid oxidation, and impaired mitochondrial respiration. Moreover, GGC was able to remodel the fibrillar conformation of Aβ oligomers to non-toxic forms. These data provide renewed insight on the beneficial effects of increased GSH levels by GGC in human neurons, and identify additional targets to attenuate the neurotoxic effects of Aβ oligomers in AD.
Phage Display and PEGylation of Therapeutic Proteins (2005)

With the success of the human genome project, the focus of life science research has shifted to the functional and structural analyses of proteins, such as disease proteomics and structural genomics. These novel approaches to the analyses of proteins, including newly identified ones, are expected to help in the identification and development of protein therapies for various diseases. Thus, disease proteomic-based drug discovery has a very high profile. Nevertheless, the use of bioactive proteins in the clinical setting is not straightforward because, in vivo, these proteins have a low stability and a pleiotropic action. To promote disease proteomic-based drug discovery and development, we have attempted to establish a system for creating functional mutant proteins (muteins) with the desired properties, and also to develop a site-specific polymer-conjugation system for further improving their therapeutic potency. These innovative protein-drug systems are discussed in this review.
DNA barcoding of the fungal genus Neonectria and the discovery of two new species (2011)

To determine a suitable DNA barcode for the genus Neonectria, the internal transcribed spacer rDNA, β-tubulin, EF-1α, and RPB2 genes were selected as candidate markers. A total of 205 sequences from 19 species of the genus were analyzed. Intra- and inter-specific divergences and the ease of nucleotide sequence acquisition were treated as criteria to evaluate the feasibility of a DNA barcode. Our results indicated that any single gene among the candidate markers failed to serve as a successful barcode, while the combination of the partial EF-1α, and RPB2 genes recognized all species tested. We tentatively propose the combined partial EF-1α and RPB2 genes as a DNA barcode for the genus. During this study, two cryptic species were discovered, based on the combined data of morphology and DNA barcode information. We described and named these two new species N. ditissimopsis and N. microconidia.
Alternative Medicine in the Elderly: Use and Abuse (2012)

Written by health care professionals, this article investigates the use and usefulness of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) by senior citizens. These entities, classified by the FDA as dietary supplements, are among the most widely prescribed drugs in Europe. CAMs discussed include gingko biloba for vascular disease and dementia, glucosamine and chondroitin for arthritis, saw palmetto for benign prostate hypertrophy, St. John's Wort for depression, and valerian for insomnia.
Synthesis of Peroxo-Modified Anatase Sol from Peroxo Titanic Acid Solution (1996)

A peroxo titanic acid (PTA) solution has been prepared by mixing titanic acid wet gel and hydrogen peroxide solution. The PTA solution was a neutral, transparent, stable liquid. The PTA crystallized to form an anatase phase after calcination at a temperature above 250°C. When the PTA solution was autoclaved at a temperature above 100°C for 6h, it changed to a sol containing anatase crystals less than 20nm in diameter. Aggregation occurred after autoclaving at a temperature above 120°C. When the PTA solution was heated to 100°C, it was translucent and stable in spite of containing ultrafine anatase crystals (9nm in diameter). It was deduced that the surfaces of anatase crystals are modified by the peroxo groups.
A Novel Approach to Real-time Bilinear Interpolation (2005)

Bilinear interpolation is often used to improve image quality after performing spatial transformation operations such as digital zooming or rotation. In the traditional case where the input coordinates appear in a raster-based fashion, the required pixel values can be obtained from the previous calculation, the frame buffer and a single line cache. This paper presents a novel approach to performing real-time bilinear interpolation that is useful in applications such as lens distortion correction where the input coordinates follow a curved path that spans multiple rows. To help retrieve the required pixels in a single clock cycle under imposed data bandwidth constraints a unique caching system has been devised. In the event that constraints make it impossible to obtain the four required pixel values, the approach performs a modified three-point interpolation. An example field programmable gate array implementation of the bilinear interpolation method used in conjunction with a lens distortion correction algorithm has been successfully completed.
What is the value of limited feedback for MIMO channels? (2004)

Feedback in a communications system can enable the transmitter to exploit channel conditions and avoid interference. In the case of a multiple-input multiple-output channel, feedback can be used to specify a precoding matrix at the transmitter, which activates the strongest channel modes. In situations where the feedback is severely limited, important issues are how to quantize the information needed at the transmitter and how much improvement in associated performance can be obtained as a function of the amount of feedback available. We give an overview of some recent work in this area. Methods are presented for constructing a set of possible precoding matrices, from which a particular choice can be relayed to the transmitter. Performance results show that even a few bits of feedback can provide performance close to that with full channel knowledge at the transmitter.
An Ontology for Video Event Representation (2005)

Representation and recognition of events in a video is important for a number of tasks such as video surveillance, video browsing and content based video indexing. This paper describes the results of a "Challenge Project on Video Event Taxonomy" sponsored by the Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA) of the U.S. Government in the summer and fall of 2003. The project brought together more than 30 researchers in computer vision and knowledge representation and representatives of the user community. It resulted in the development of a formal language for describing an ontology of events, which we call VERL (Video Event Representation Language) and a companion language called VEML (Video Event Markup Language) to annotate instances of the events described in VERL. This paper provides a summary of VERL and VEML as well as the considerations associated with the specific design choices.
[Research on rectal administration of bark of official Magnolia]. (1995)

Fluorescence assay was applied to the determination of magnolol in rabbit blood, and the best way to administer the bark of official magnolia per rectal was established by orthogonal test. Then the two routes of administration were compared by AUC of magnolol and per rectal was found better than P.O. In addition, the modified isolated rectum-bag method was applied successfully to the research on rectal administration of bark of official magnolia.
The adaptive radix tree: ARTful indexing for main-memory databases (2013)

Main memory capacities have grown up to a point where most databases fit into RAM. For main-memory database systems, index structure performance is a critical bottleneck. Traditional in-memory data structures like balanced binary search trees are not efficient on modern hardware, because they do not optimally utilize on-CPU caches. Hash tables, also often used for main-memory indexes, are fast but only support point queries. To overcome these shortcomings, we present ART, an adaptive radix tree (trie) for efficient indexing in main memory. Its lookup performance surpasses highly tuned, read-only search trees, while supporting very efficient insertions and deletions as well. At the same time, ART is very space efficient and solves the problem of excessive worst-case space consumption, which plagues most radix trees, by adaptively choosing compact and efficient data structures for internal nodes. Even though ART's performance is comparable to hash tables, it maintains the data in sorted order, which enables additional operations like range scan and prefix lookup.
The influence of shape on the perception of material reflectance (2007)

Visual observation is our principal source of information in determining the nature of objects, including shape, material or roughness. The physiological and cognitive processes that resolve visual input into an estimate of the material of an object are influenced by the illumination and the shape of the object. This affects our ability to select materials by observing them on a point-lit sphere, as is common in current 3D modeling applications.
An 84-dB extended dynamic range, 152fps, 512 &#x00D7; 384 segmented-base CMOS image sensor with a 10bit, 2.5-MS/s, 6.5-mW pipelined ADC (2012)

In this paper, an 84-dB extended dynamic range 512 × 384 segmented-base CMOS image sensor is presented. The extended dynamic range is realized by a pixel-level reset control supported by a pixel sequential readout circuit. The segmented-base CMOS image sensor was introduced in [1] and shows advantages over a conventional single-imaging-parameter-based CMOS image sensor for applications such as real-time scene understanding in machine vision. This paper describes the improved sensor performance of the newly designed chip, in which 128 × 128 × 12 segments; an extended dynamic range pixel; and a 10-bit, 2.5-M-sample-per-second pipelined analog-to-digital converter are integrated. Simulations indicate that this chip achieves 152 fps per segment and the ADC dissipates less than 6.5 mW.
Bioprospecting of microbial strains for biofuel production: metabolic engineering, applications, and challenges (2021)

The issues of global warming, coupled with fossil fuel depletion, have undoubtedly led to renewed interest in other sources of commercial fuels. The search for renewable fuels has motivated research into the biological degradation of lignocellulosic biomass feedstock to produce biofuels such as bioethanol, biodiesel, and biohydrogen. The model strain for biofuel production needs the capability to utilize a high amount of substrate, transportation of sugar through fast and deregulated pathways, ability to tolerate inhibitory compounds and end products, and increased metabolic fluxes to produce an improved fermentation product. Engineering microbes might be a great approach to produce biofuel from lignocellulosic biomass by exploiting metabolic pathways economically. Metabolic engineering is an advanced technology for the construction of highly effective microbial cell factories and a key component for the next-generation bioeconomy. It has been extensively used to redirect the biosynthetic pathway to produce desired products in several native or engineered hosts. A wide range of novel compounds has been manufactured through engineering metabolic pathways or endogenous metabolism optimizations by metabolic engineers. This review is focused on the potential utilization of engineered strains to produce biofuel and gives prospects for improvement in metabolic engineering for new strain development using advanced technologies.
Single-phase hybrid transformer using matrix-reactance chopper with &#x0106;uk topology (2007)

This paper deals with the modelling and analysis of a new solution for a single-phase AC transformer with electromagnetic and electric coupling (hybrid coupling). The electromagnetic coupling is realized by means of the conventional transformer (TR) with two secondary windings. The electrical coupling is realized by means of a matrix-reactance chopper (MRC) whit Cuk topology, which is supplied from an auxiliary secondary winding of the transformer. This paper presents an operational description, a modelling and a theoretical analysis of the properties of the proposed solution. The steady-state analysis is based on the averaged state-space method and four terminal descriptions, and is verified both by means of the simulation and experimental investigations.
The refurbishment and development of a leading HV laboratory - bridging the academic and industrial divide (2004)

A refurbished laboratory has been set up in the University of Manchester to study high voltage (HV) engineering. This has been achieved with the support of the National Grid Transco (NGT). This support has included new equipment, a new academic appointment, and refurbished teaching facilities. Combine this with the existing expertise in the electrical engineering department on power system analysis and the excellent Materials and other physical sciences in the university, and it can be understood why the team here is now in a great position to continue to deliver world-class research.
Design and evaluation of hyperspectral algorithms for chemical warfare agent detection (2005)

Remote sensing of chemical warfare agents (CWA) with stand-off hyperspectral imaging sensors has a wide range of civilian and military applications. These sensors exploit the spectral changes in the ambient photon flux produced by either sunlight or the thermal emission of the earth after passage through a region containing the CWA cloud. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, to discuss a simple phenomenological model for the radiance measured by the sensor in the case of optically thin clouds. This model provides the mathematical framework for the development of optimum algorithms and their analytical evaluation. Second, we identify the fundamental aspects of the data exploitation problem and we develop detection algorithms that can be used by different sensors as long as they can provide the required measurements. Finally, we discuss performance metrics for detection, identification, and quantification and we investigate their dependance on CWA spectral signatures, sensor noise, and background spectral variability.
Cloud Cover Assessment for Operational Crop Monitoring Systems in Tropical Areas (2016)

The potential of optical remote sensing data to identify, map and monitor croplands is well recognized. However, clouds strongly limit the usefulness of optical imagery for these applications. This paper aims at assessing cloud cover conditions over four states in the tropical and sub-tropical Center-South region of Brazil to guide the development of an appropriate agricultural monitoring system based on Landsat-like imagery. Cloudiness was assessed during overlapping four months periods to match the typical length of crop cycles in the study area. The percentage of clear sky occurrence was computed from the 1 km resolution MODIS Cloud Mask product (MOD35) considering 14 years of data between July 2000 and June 2014. Results showed high seasonality of cloud occurrence within the crop year with strong variations across the study area. The maximum seasonality was observed for the two states in the northern part of the study area (i.e., the ones closer to the Equator line), which also presented the lowest averaged values (15%) of clear sky occurrence during the main (summer) cropping period (November to February). In these locations, optical data faces severe constraints for mapping summer crops. On the other hand, relatively favorable conditions were found in the southern part of the study region. In the South, clear sky values of around 45% were found and no significant clear sky seasonality was observed. Results underpin the challenges to implement an operational crop monitoring system based solely on optical remote sensing imagery in tropical and sub-tropical regions, in particular if short-cycle crops have to be monitored during the cloudy summer months. To cope with cloudiness issues, we recommend the use of new systems with higher repetition rates such as Sentinel-2. For local studies, Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs) might be used to augment the observing capability. Multi-sensor approaches combining optical and microwave data can be another option. In cases where wall-to-wall maps are not mandatory, statistical sampling approaches might also be a suitable alternative for obtaining useful crop area information.
Aspect-Ratio-Dependent Etch effects in Titanium Deep Reactive Ion Etching (2021)

International audience
Cytotoxic constituents of propolis inducing anticancer effects: a review (2011)

Propolis extracts may be important economically and would allow a relatively inexpensive cancer treatment. Preclinical investigations are needed to further elucidate the benefits of propolis and its antitumour properties.