gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Reversal of Pacing-Induced Cardiomyopathy by Normal QRS Axis Pacing (2016)

Right ventricular apical pacing has been a commonly used method for placement of permanent pacemaker, but it is known to be associated with ventricular dyssynchrony and may lead to heart failure. Septal pacing could be an alternative method to improve this complication but the results have been conflicting; hence, other strategies are needed. This case is about a patient with pacing-induced cardiomyopathy who showed much improvement after repositioning the leads to a site different from that of normally paced QRS axis.
Estrogen and COVID-19 symptoms: associations in women from the COVID Symptom Study (2020)

Abstract Background Men and older women have been shown to be at higher risk of adverse COVID-19 outcomes. Animal model studies of SARS-CoV and MERS suggest that the age and sex difference in COVID-19 symptom severity may be due to a protective effect of the female sex hormone estrogen. Females have shown an ability to mount a stronger immune response to a variety of viral infections because of more robust humoral and cellular immune responses. Objectives We sought to determine whether COVID-19 positivity increases in women entering menopause. We also aimed to identify whether premenopausal women taking exogenous hormones in the form of the combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) and post-menopausal women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have lower predicted rates of COVID-19, using our published symptom-based model. Design The COVID Symptom Study developed by King’s College London and Zoe Global Limited was launched in the UK on 24 th March 2020. It captured self-reported information related to COVID-19 symptoms. Data used for this study included records collected between 7 th May - 15 th June 2020. Main outcome measures We investigated links between COVID-19 rates and 1) menopausal status, 2) COCP use and 3) HRT use, using symptom-based predicted COVID-19, tested COVID-19, and disease severity based on requirement for hospital attendance or respiratory support. Participants Female users of the COVID Symptom Tracker Application in the UK, including 152,637 women for menopause status, 295,689 for COCP use, and 151,193 for HRT use. Analyses were adjusted for age, smoking and BMI. Results Post-menopausal women aged 40-60 years had a higher rate of predicted COVID (P=0.003) and a corresponding range of symptoms, with consistent, but not significant trends observed for tested COVID-19 and disease severity. Women aged 18-45 years taking COCP had a significantly lower predicted COVID-19 (P=8.03E-05), with a reduction in hospital attendance (P=0.023). Post-menopausal women using HRT or hormonal therapies did not exhibit consistent associations, including increased rates of predicted COVID-19 (P=2.22E-05) for HRT users alone. Conclusions Our findings support a protective effect of estrogen on COVID-19, based on positive association between predicted COVID-19 and menopausal status, and a negative association with COCP use. HRT use was positively associated with COVID-19 symptoms; however, the results should be considered with caution due to lack of data on HRT type, route of administration, duration of treatment, and potential comorbidities. Trial registration The App Ethics has been approved by KCL ethics Committee REMAS ID 18210, review reference LRs-19/20-18210
The Cdc42/Rac Interactive Binding Region Motif of the Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome Protein (WASP) Is Necessary but Not Sufficient for Tight Binding to Cdc42 and Structure Formation (1998)

Wiskott Aldrich syndrome is a rare hereditary disease that affects cell morphology and signal transduction in hematopoietic cells. Different size fragments of the Wiskott Aldrich syndrome protein, W4, W7 and W13, were expressed in Escherichia coli or obtained from proteolysis. All contain the GTPase binding domain (GBD), also called Cdc42/Rac interactive binding region (CRIB), found in many putative downstream effectors of Rac and Cdc42. We have developed assays to measure the binding interaction between these fragments and Cdc42 employing fluorescent N-methylanthraniloyl-guanine nucleotide analogues. The fragments bind with submicromolar affinities in a GTP-dependent manner, with the largest fragment having the highest affinity, showing that the GBD/CRIB motif is necessary but not sufficient for tight binding. Rate constants for the interaction with W13 have been determined via surface plasmon resonance, and the equilibrium dissociation constant obtained from their ratio agrees with the value obtained by fluorescence measurements. Far UV circular dichroism spectra show significant secondary structure only for W13, supported by fluorescence studies using intrinsic protein fluorescence and quenching by acrylamide. Proton and 15N NMR measurements show that the GBD/CRIB motif has no apparent secondary structure and that the region C-terminal to the GBD/CRIB region is alpha-helical. The binding of Cdc42 induces a structural rearrangement of residues in the GBD/CRIB motif, or alternatively, the Wiskott Aldrich syndrome protein fragments have an ensemble of conformations, one of which is stabilized by Cdc42 binding. Thus, in contrast to Ras effectors, which have no conserved sequence elements but a defined domain structure with ubiquitin topology, Rac/Cdc42 effectors have a highly conserved binding region but no defined domain structure in the absence of the GTP-binding protein. Deviating from common belief GBD/CRIB is neither a structural domain nor sufficient for tight binding as regions outside this motif are necessary for structure formation and tight interaction with Rho/Rac proteins.
Paroxetine treatment of premature ejaculation: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study (1994)

Seventeen male outpatients with premature ejaculation were randomly assigned to treatment with paroxetine (N = 8) or placebo (N = 9). After a first week dose of 20 mg/day, the paroxetine regimen was increased to 40 mg/day for 5 weeks. Patients and their female partners were interviewed separately. Patients treated with paroxetine had significantly greater clinical improvement than the patients given placebo.
In This Issue (2017)

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVIn This IssueNEXTIn This IssueJason G. UnderwoodCite this: ACS Chem. Biol. 2017, 12, 7, 1715Publication Date (Web):July 21, 2017Publication History Published online21 July 2017Published inissue 21 July 2017https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acschembio.7b00573https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.7b00573in-briefACS PublicationsCopyright © 2017 American Chemical Society. This publication is available under these Terms of Use. Request reuse permissions This publication is free to access through this site. Learn MoreArticle Views394Altmetric-Citations-LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail PDF (730 KB) Get e-AlertscloseSUBJECTS:Anatomy,Cells,Lipids,Membranes,Peptides and proteins Get e-Alerts
It is all in the Pattern-High-Efficiency Power Extraction from Polymer Solar Cells through High-Voltage Serial Connection (2013)

To infinity and beyond! Large-scale deployment methods for polymer solar cells are demonstrated through the near-infinite serial connection of individual solar cells by printing an indium-tin-oxide-free solar cell stack outside of vacuum. A careful choice of pattern ensures a high device yield of 16 000 solar cells to yield a total voltage of 8.2 kV. A robustness towards partial shadowing or poorly performing individual solar cells in the array is a unique property of polymer solar cells.
Development of the Human Umbilical Vein Scaffold for Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering Applications (2005)

Biologic function and the mechanical performance of vascular grafting materials are important predictors of graft patency. As such, "functional" materials that improve biologic integration and function have become increasingly sought after. An important alternative to synthetic materials is the use of biomaterials derived from ex vivo tissues that retain significant biologic and mechanical function. Unfortunately, inconsistent mechanical properties that result from tedious, time consuming, manual dissection methods have reduced the potential usefulness of many of these materials. We describe the preparation of the human umbilical vein (HUV) for use as an acellular, three-dimensional, vascular scaffold using a novel, automated dissection methodology. The goal of this investigation was to determine the effectiveness of the autodissection methodology to yield an ex vivo biomaterial with improved uniformity and reduced variance. Mechanical properties, including burst pressure, compliance, uniaxial tension testing, and suture holding capacity, were assessed to determine the suitability of the HUV scaffold for vascular tissue engineering applications. The automated methodology results in a tubular scaffold with significantly reduced sample to sample variation, requiring significantly less time to excise the vein from the umbilical cord than manual dissection methods. Short-term analysis of the interactions between primary human vascular smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts HUV scaffold have shown an excellent potential for cellular integration by native cellular remodeling processes. Our work has shown that the HUV scaffold is mechanically sound, uniform, and maintains its biphasic stress-strain relationship throughout tissue processing. By maintaining the mechanical properties of the native blood vessels, in concert with promising cellular interactions, the HUV scaffold may lead to improved grafts for vascular reconstructive surgeries.
Pharmacology of vitamin D (2011)

Summary A main source of food for ancient humans (“hunter-gatherers”) was fresh meat. It contains much more 25(OH) vitamin D3 (25[OH]D3) than vitamin D3. It seems likely that in northern Europe, where vitamin D is in short supply during the extended winter season, evolutionary forces may have led to optimization of intestinal absorption of 25(OH)D3: excellent oral bioavailability (60 – 80 %) and little inter-individual variation. 25(OH)D3 could be considered the ideal oral “sunshine equivalent” for rapid and reliable restoration of an adequate vitamin D status e. g. in clinical situations. Unless biliary and pancreatic secretion or epithelial function in the small intestine is compromised, vitamin D3 in „pharmacological doses” is absorbed by 60 – 100 % as a „blind passenger” together with longchain fatty acids and cholesterol. The question is raised whether very low amounts of the vitamin (as in the diet) are absorbed by a more active (“second order”) mechanism. Experimental evidence obtained from cell culture systems indeed suggests that vitamin D3 can be taken up in part from enterocytes via the same complex, tightly regulated and saturable transport system as is e. g. cholesterol. The ezetimibe drug receptor NPC1L1 may play a role in this process. The Apolipoprotein Epsilon 4 genotype occurs in a north-south gradient in Europe. Allele frequencies are as high as 30 % in Finland and much lower, 5 %, around the Mediterranean Sea. The Epsilon 4 genotype may have been selected in the north because it enables more vitamin D to be obtained from food. The association of higher levels of 25(OH)D3 in humans with the Epsilon 4 genotype, together with evidence from knock-in mice, supports this hypothesis. It is possible, but as yet unproven, that this “lipid-thrifty” genotype is the cause of excess cardiovascular mortality sometimes observed in cohorts with high serum concentrations of 25(OH)D. Latitudinal gradients for mutations in the enzyme delta-7-dehydrocholesterol reductase (DHCR-7) suggest that similar evolutionary adaptations occurred for vitamin D synthesized in the skin following sun exposure.
Ganglioside rafts as MAG receptors that mediate blockade of axon growth (2002)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans the biological, physical, and social sciences.
A β1-adrenergic receptor CaM kinase II-dependent pathway mediates cardiac myocyte fetal gene induction (2006)

Beta-adrenergic signaling plays an important role in the natural history of dilated cardiomyopathies. Chronic activation of beta-adrenergic receptors (beta1-AR and beta2-AR) during periods of cardiac stress ultimately harms the failing heart by mechanisms that include alterations in gene expression. Here, we show that stimulation of beta-ARs with isoproterenol in neonate rat ventricular myocytes causes a "fetal" response in the relative activities of the human cardiac fetal and/or adult gene promoters that includes repression of the human and rat alpha-myosin heavy chain (alpha-MyHC) promoters with simultaneous activation of the human atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and rat beta-MyHC promoters. We also show that the promoter changes correlate with changes in endogenous gene expression as measured by mRNA expression. Furthermore, we show that these changes are specifically mediated by the beta1-AR, but not the beta2-AR, and are independent of alpha1-AR stimulation. We also demonstrate that the fetal gene response is independent of cAMP and protein kinase A, whereas inhibition of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) pathway blocks isoproterenol-mediated fetal gene program induction. Finally, we show that induction of the fetal program is dependent on activation of the L-type Ca2+ channel. We conclude that in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes, agonist-occupied beta1-AR mobilizes Ca2+ stores to activate fetal gene induction through cAMP independent pathways that involve CaMK.
Protein Aggregation and Its Consequences for Human Disease (2006)

Protein molecules have emerged through evolution so that they are able to remain in their functional and soluble states under normal physiological conditions, although in other situations they often have a high propensity to aggregate. Aggregation in vivo is associated with a wide range of human disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and type II diabetes, medical conditions that are becoming increasingly common in the modern world. In such diseases, aggregated proteins can often be observed as highly intractable thread-like species known as amyloid fibrils. This article provides an overview of our present knowledge of the nature of these fibrillar aggregates and the manner in which they form, and discusses the origins and potential means of suppression of the pathogenic properties with which they and their precursors are associated.
Investigating the Photochemistry of Spiropyran Metal Complexes with Online LED-NMR (2019)

As one of the best studied photoswitches, spiropyrans (SPs) have attracted significant interest in the scientific community. Among the many stimuli to alter the isomerization into the merocyanine (MC) isomer, such as temperature, pH, solvent polarity, redox potential, or mechanical force, the ability of the MC form to act as a ligand site for metal complexation has recently raised new attention. We herein synthesize hitherto undescribed coordination compounds of 8-methoxy-1',3',3'-trimethyl-6-nitrospiro-[chromene-2,2'-indoline] with s-block ([Ca(MC)<sub>4</sub>](ClO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub>), d-block ([Zn(MC)<sub>2</sub>(MeCN)<sub>2</sub>](ClO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub>, [Ni(MC)<sub>2</sub>(MeCN)<sub>2</sub>](ClO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub>), as well as f-block ([La(NO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub>(MC)<sub>2</sub>]) metals. All complexes are structurally described by X-ray crystallography and systematically investigated in solution via Job's method of continuous variations (Job plots), as well as online NMR spectroscopic kinetic experiments with <i>in situ</i> irradiation of the analyte solution inside the NMR spectrometer (LED-NMR). We can unambiguously identify the photoresponsive nature of the complexes in solution, which is a crucial step toward the application of these promising molecules in material science.
A MODFET-based optoelectronic integrated circuit receiver for optical interconnects (1993)

The design, fabrication, and characterization of a 0.85- mu m sensitive photoreceiver is described. The monolithically integrated optoelectronic receiver is based on pseudomorphic InGaAs on GaAs modulation-doped field-effect transistors (MODFETs) and metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors. High-performance quarter-micrometer MODFETs with f/sub t/'s of approximately 70 GHz are utilized in a two-stage transimpedance amplifier. An asymmetric and a symmetric amplifier design are compared. The symmetric design is found to provide the desired zero DC offset voltage for a variety of supply voltages. Excess MSM-detector dark current and low-frequency internal gain are greatly reduced through the use of a silicon passivation layer and/or AlGaAs cap layer. Receiver transimpedances between 100 and 5000 Omega are obtained by varying the bias on an active feedback resistor. The parasitic capacitances of this common-gate feedback FET are studied. A transimpedance amplifier bandwidth as high as 14 GHz and an overall photoreceiver bandwidth of 11 GHz are measured.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>
Simple Pyranometer for Use in Artificial Accelerated Weathering Apparatus (1969)

A simple pyranometer for use in the artificially accelerated weathering apparatus was constructed. It can measure and record the total irradiance on the specimen. The irradiance detector was made of two platinum pieces (Each 5×3×0.03mm), one being Pt-blackened and the other Aldeposited, and a CA differentia thermocouple (0.1mmφ) was attached to these pieces.The time to reach one half of equilibrium emf value was about 3.0sec. The emf of differential thermocouple in the accelerated weathering apparatus of 6kW water cooled xenon lamp (ASTM E 239 type) was about 0.7mV. The relation between the emf of differential thermocouple and the irradiance on the detector may be calibrated against a commercial calibrated pyranometer.
Physiologic cleavage of von Willebrand factor by a plasma protease is dependent on its conformation and requires calcium ion (1996)

von Willebrand factor (vWF) in the circulation is subjected to proteolysis. In a recent study, we reported that normal plasma contains a protease activity that cleaves vWF in a shear-dependent manner, causing a decrease in its multimer size while generating dimers of the 140-kD and the 176-kD fragments indistinguishable from those found in normal plasma. In this study, the plasma protease has been partially purified and characterized and the role of vWF conformation in its cleavage by the protease has been further investigated. Guanidine HCl caused unfolding of vWF in a concentration-dependent manner, resulting in a shift in its fluorescence emission maxima to longer wavelengths. A dramatic increase in its proteolytic susceptibility was seen at 1.1 to 1.2 mol/L guanidine HCl, a concentration causing only a 3- to 4-nm shift in vWF emission maxima. Although vWF molecules refolded as guanidine HCl was removed by dialysis, the refolding was accompanied only by a partial recovery of the proteolytic resistance. The plasma protease, partially purified by approximately 900 folds by Sephacryl S-300 HR gel filtration, Matrex gel orange A dye affinity chromatography, and Q Sepharose anion exchange, had a molecular mass of approximately 200 kD and was inhibited by EDTA, EGTA, or 1,10-phenanthroline. The inhibition by EGTA or EDTA could be reversed by Ca2+ but not by mg2+. It was not inhibited by a panel of synthetic and natural protease inhibitors or adsorbed by gelatin-agarose, and it was present in plasmas deficient in proteins involved in coagulation and anticoagulation. The vWF fragments generated by the protease, as mapped by peptide-specific antibodies VP-1 and LJ-7745, were in distinguishable from the natural fragments but distinct from those produced by plasmin. High molecular weight endothelial vWF, after exposure to guanidine HCLI or high shear stress, was cleaved by the protease to smaller forms. These results support the model that endothelial secreted vWF is converted to multimers by a novel plasma metalloproteinase. Although native vWF exists in a conformation relatively resistant to cleavage, an alteration in the conformation by shear stress can lead to enhanced proteolytic susceptibility. This model may explain the decrease in vWF multimer sizes in various clinical conditions.
Effect of deoxycorticosterone on sodium appetite of intact and adrenalectomized rats (1965)

The effect of DOC on sodium chloride (saline) intake was studied in intact and adrenalectomized rats under "two-bottle" self-selection conditions. It was found that in adrenalectomized rats low doses of DOC produced a decrease in saline intake (restoration of sodium-retaining ability), whereas high doses produced an increase in saline intake (stimulation of sodium appetite). At high doses, however, intact rats consumed more saline and manifested a greater preference for it than did similarly treated adrenalectomized rats. Treatment with corticosterone increased both absolute saline intake and saline preference of DOC-treated adrenalectomized rats.
Ferroelectric smectic C liquid crystal image transducers (1988)

Photosensitive structures based on ferroelectric smectic C* liquid crystal (SC*LC) and photoconductor layers are used for image transducing and processing, For this purpose a newmode of linear electrooptical effect in SC*LC is suggested. Sensitivity of transducers near i s obtained while the cycle time is less than 1 ms, and the resolution is higher than 30 ml (measured at half maximum value of the modulation transfer function). The potentialities of the transducers improvement are discussed.