gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Advanced manufacturing of microdisk vaccines for uniform control of material properties and immune cell function (2017)

The continued challenges facing vaccines in infectious disease and cancer highlight a need for better control over the features of vaccines and the responses they generate. Biomaterials offer unique advantages to achieve this goal through features such as controlled release and co-delivery of antigens and adjuvants. However, many synthesis strategies lead to particles with heterogeneity in diameter, shape, loading level, or other properties. In contrast, advanced manufacturing techniques allow precision control of material properties at the micro- and nano-scale. These capabilities in vaccines and immunotherapies could allow more rational design to speed efficient design and clinical translation. Here we employed soft lithography to generate polymer microdisk vaccines with uniform structures and tunable compositions of vaccine antigens and toll like receptor agonists (TLRas) that serve as molecular adjuvants. Compared to conventional PLGA particles formed by emulsion, microdisks provided a dramatic improvement in the consistency of properties such as diameter. During culture with primary dendritic cells (DCs) from mice, microdisks were internalized by the cells without toxicity, while promoting co-delivery of antigen and TLRa to the same cell. Analysis of DC surface activation markers by flow cytometry revealed microdisk vaccines activated dendritic cells in a manner that depended on the level of TLRa, while antigen processing and presentation depended on the amount of antigen in the microdisks. Together, this work demonstrates the use of advanced manufacturing techniques to produce uniform vaccines that direct DC function depending on the composition in the disks.
Aza-Wittig Rearrangements of N-Benzyl and N-Allyl Glycine Methyl Esters. Discovery of a Surprising Cascade Aza-Wittig Rearrangement/Hydroboration Reaction (2015)

Treatment of N-(arylmethyl)-N-aryl or N-allyl-N-aryl glycine methyl ester derivatives with nBu2BOTf and iPr2NEt effects an aza-Wittig rearrangement that provides N-aryl phenylalanine methyl ester derivatives and N-aryl allylglycine methyl ester derivatives, respectively, in good yield with moderate to good diastereoselectivity. Under similar conditions, analogous substrates bearing N-carbonyl groups are converted to 1,4,2-oxazaborole derivatives. Additionally, N-allyl-N-aryl glycine methyl ester derivatives subjected to similar conditions at elevated temperatures undergo an aza-[2,3]-Wittig rearrangement, followed by a subsequent hydroboration oxidation reaction, to afford substituted amino alcohol products.
Reduction of body iron stores to normal range levels in thalassaemia by using a deferiprone/deferoxamine combination and their maintenance thereafter by deferiprone monotherapy (2010)

Transfusional iron overload in patients with thalassaemia could be reduced to normal body iron range levels using effective deferiprone/deferoxamine combinations. These levels could be maintained using deferiprone monotherapy.
Evaluating the Antimicrobial Properties of Commercial Hand Sanitizers (2021)

Hand sanitizers have been developed as a convenient means to decontaminate an individual's hands of bacterial pathogens in situations in which soap and water are not available. Yet to our knowledge, no study has compared the antibacterial efficacy of a large collection of hand sanitizers. Using zone of growth inhibition and kill curve assays, we assessed the performance of 46 commercially available hand sanitizers that were obtained from national chain big-box stores, gasoline stations, pharmacies, and boutiques for antibacterial activity toward prototypical Gram-positive (<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>) and Gram-negative (<i>Escherichia coli</i>) bacterial pathogens. Results revealed substantial variability in the efficacy of many sanitizers evaluated. Formulations following World Health Organization-recommended ingredients (80% ethanol or 75% isopropyl alcohol) or those including benzalkonium chloride as the active principal ingredient displayed excellent antibacterial activity, whereas others exhibited modest or poor activity in the assays performed. Results also revealed that <i>E. coli</i> was generally more susceptible to most sanitizers in comparison to <i>S. aureus</i> and that there was significant strain-to-strain variability in hand sanitizer antimicrobial efficacy regardless of the organism evaluated. Further, tests of a subset of hand sanitizers toward severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) revealed no direct correlation between antibacterial and antiviral performance, with all ethyl alcohol formulations performing equally well and displaying improved activity in comparison to benzalkonium chloride-containing sanitizer. Taken together, these results indicate that there is likely to be substantial variability in the antimicrobial performance of commercially available hand sanitizers, particularly toward bacterial pathogens, and a need to evaluate the efficacy of sanitizers under development.<b>IMPORTANCE</b> In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, hand hygiene has taken on a prominent role in efforts to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission and infection, which has led to a radical increase in the number and types of hand sanitizers manufactured to meet public demand. To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated or compared the antimicrobial performance of hand sanitizers that are being produced under COVID-19 emergency authorization. Tests of 46 commercially available hand sanitizers purchased from national chain brick-and-mortar stores revealed considerable variability in their antibacterial performance toward two bacterial pathogens of immediate health care concern, <i>S. aureus</i> and <i>E. coli</i> Expanded testing of a subset of hand sanitizers revealed no direct correlation between antibacterial performance of individual sanitizers and their activity toward SARS-CoV-2. These results indicate that as the pandemic subsides, there will be a need to validate the antimicrobial efficacy of sanitizers being produced.
FEASIBILITY AND MEASUREMENT STABILITY OF SMARTWATCH-BASED CUFFLESS BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING (2023)

Objective: Cuffless wearable devices are currently being developed for long-term monitoring of blood pressure (BP) in patients with hypertension and in apparently healthy people. This study evaluated the feasibility and measurement stability of smartwatch-based cuffless BP monitoring in real-world conditions. Design and method: Users of the first smartwatch-based cuffless BP monitor approved in Korea (Samsung Galaxy Watch) were invited to upload their data from using the device for 4 weeks post calibration. Results: A total of 760 participants (mean age 43.7±11.9, 80.3% men) provided 35,797 BP readings (average monitoring 22±4 days [SD]; average readings 47±42 per participant [median 36]). Each participant obtained 1.5±1.3 readings/day and 19.7% of the participants obtained measurements every day. BP showed considerable variability, mainly depending on the day and time of the measurement. There was a trend towards higher BP levels on Mondays than on other days of the week and on workdays than in weekends. BP readings taken between 00:00 and 04:00 tended to be the lowest, whereas those between 12:00 and 16:00 the highest. The average pre-post calibration error for systolic BP (difference in 7-day BP before and after calibration), was 6.8±5.6 mmHg, and was increased with higher systolic BP levels before calibration. Conclusions: Smartwatch-based cuffless BP monitoring is feasible for out-of-office monitoring in the real-world setting. The stability of BP measurement post calibration and the standardization and optimal time interval for recalibration need further investigation.
Rh(iii)-catalyzed and alcohol-involved carbenoid C–H insertion into N-phenoxyacetamides using α-diazomalonates (2015)

Here we report a new and mild Rh(III)-catalyzed and alcohol-involved carbenoid C-H insertion into N-phenoxyacetamides using α-diazomalonates. This reaction provided a straightforward way for installing both an α-quaternary carbon center and a free-OH moiety into the phenyl ring, thus giving access to useful 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2-alkoxymalonates with good substrate/functional group tolerance.
New Method toward a Robust Covalently Attached Cross-Linked Nanofiltration Membrane (2020)

As nanofiltration applications increase in diversity, there is a need for new fabrication methods to prepare chemically and thermally stable membranes with high retention performance. In this work, thio-bromo "click" chemistry was adapted for the fabrication of a robust covalently attached and ultrathin nanofiltration membrane. The selective layer was formed on a pre-functionalized porous ceramic surface via a novel, liquid-vapor interfacial polymerization method. Compared to the most common conventional interfacial polymerization procedure, no harmful solvents and a minimal amount of reagents were used. The properties of the membrane selective layer and its free-standing equivalent were characterized by complementary physicochemical analysis. The stability of the thin selective layer was established in water, ethanol, non-polar solvents, and up to 150 °C. The potential as a nanofiltration membrane was confirmed through solvent permeability tests (water, ethanol, hexane, and toluene), PEG-in-water molecular weight cut-off measurements (≈700 g mol<sup>-1</sup>), and dye retention measurements.
Increased diagnostic yield of endoscopic ultrasound‐guided fine needle aspirates with flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry (2012)

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is the most sensitive and specific test for establishing a tissue diagnosis for many gastrointestinal malignancies; however, cytologic morphology alone may not be definitive for subsets of tumors. Our aim was to quantify the impact of the broad application of flow cytometry (FC) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) on EUS-FNA diagnostic yield. A retrospective chart review was performed on EUS procedures at a tertiary referral, academic medical center. All EUS-FNA cases performed over a 21-month period were examined. Of 606 EUS procedures reviewed during the period of study, 264 utilized FNA. After pancreatic cyst cases were excluded, 235 EUS-FNA cases for 221 patients were selected for analysis. For cases with subsequent histological evaluation, including the subset utilizing FC/IHC, the sensitivity of EUS-FNA was 89%, specificity was 100%, and accuracy was 91%. One quarter (58/235, 25%) of the tissue specimens underwent further testing by FC/IHC. There were 48 definitive diagnoses made in the subset utilizing FC/IHC. In 20 of the 48 diagnoses (42%), FC/IHC was deemed critical to the diagnosis, and without FC/IHC testing in those cases, the overall sensitivity and accuracy of EUS-FNA would be reduced to 74 and 77%, respectively. FC/IHC allowed for six diagnoses rarely or not previously described by EUS-FNA. Application of FC/IHC improves characterization predominantly for nonadenocarcinoma tumor subtypes and may lead to a diagnostic result for tumors not previously characterized by EUS-FNA. With an adequate tissue sample, broad application of FC/IHC increases the diagnostic yield of EUS-FNA.
Multimodal imaging of lung cancer and its microenvironment (Conference Presentation) (2016)

Despite significant advances in targeted therapies for lung cancer, nearly all patients develop drug resistance within 6-12 months and prognosis remains poor. Developing drug resistance is a progressive process that involves tumor cells and their microenvironment. We hypothesize that microenvironment factors alter tumor growth and response to targeted therapy. We conducted in vitro studies in human EGFR-mutant lung carcinoma cells, and demonstrated that factors secreted from lung fibroblasts results in increased tumor cell survival during targeted therapy with EGFR inhibitor, gefitinib. We also demonstrated that increased environment stiffness results in increased tumor survival during gefitinib therapy. In order to test our hypothesis in vivo, we developed a multimodal optical imaging protocol for preclinical intravital imaging in mouse models to assess tumor and its microenvironment over time. We have successfully conducted multimodal imaging of dorsal skinfold chamber (DSC) window mice implanted with GFP-labeled human EGFR mutant lung carcinoma cells and visualized changes in tumor development and microenvironment facets over time. Multimodal imaging included structural OCT to assess tumor viability and necrosis, polarization-sensitive OCT to measure tissue birefringence for collagen/fibroblast detection, and Doppler OCT to assess tumor vasculature. Confocal imaging was also performed for high-resolution visualization of EGFR-mutant lung cancer cells labeled with GFP, and was coregistered with OCT. Our results demonstrated that stromal support and vascular growth are essential to tumor progression. Multimodal imaging is a useful tool to assess tumor and its microenvironment over time.
Finding Clearing Payments in Financial Networks with Credit Default Swaps is PPAD-complete (2017)

We consider the problem of clearing a system of interconnected banks that have been exposed to a shock on their assets. Eisenberg and Noe (2001) showed that when banks can only enter into simple debt contracts with each other, then a clearing vector of payments can be computed in polynomial time. In this paper, we show that the situation changes radically when banks can also enter into credit default swaps (CDSs), i.e., financial derivative contracts that depend on the default of another bank. We prove that computing an approximate solution to the clearing problem with sufficiently small constant error is PPAD-complete. To do this, we demonstrate how financial networks with debt and CDSs can encode arithmetic operations such as addition and multiplication. Our results have practical impact for network stress tests and reveal computational complexity as a new concern regarding the stability of the financial system.
Purification and Properties of Leucine Aminopeptidase IV fromAspergillus oryzae (1977)

Leucine aminopeptidase IV in extracts of wheat bran culture of Aspergillus oryzae 460 was separated from arylamidase by polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis at pH 8.0 for 1 hr. The purified enzyme showed neither arylamidase nor amidase activity. The optimum pH was 7.0 on l-leucyl-l-glycyl-l-glycine (Leu-Gly-Gly) as substrate. The enzyme was inhibited by diisopropylphosphorofluoridate (DFP), but not by metal chelating agents. The enzyme molecular weight was estimated to be about 130,000 by gel filtration method.
Scaffolding cooperation in human groups with deep reinforcement learning (2022)

Altruism and selfishness are highly transmissible. Either can easily cascade through human communities. Effective approaches to encouraging group cooperation—while also mitigating the risk of spreading defection—are still an open challenge. Here, we apply recent advances in deep reinforcement learning to structure networks of human participants playing a group cooperation game. We leverage deep reinforcement learning and simulation methods to train a "social planner" capable of making recommendations to create or break connections between group members. This social planner learns a strategy from scratch, through repeated trial and error. The strategy that it develops succeeds at encouraging prosociality in networks of human participants (N = 208 participants in 13 groups) playing the group cooperation game for real monetary stakes. Under the social planner, groups finished the game with an average cooperation rate of 77.7%, compared to 42.8% in static networks (N = 176 participants in 11 groups). In contrast to prior strategies that separate defectors from cooperators (tested here with N = 384 participants in 24 groups), the social planner learns to take a conciliatory approach to defectors, encouraging them to act prosocially by moving them to small, highly-cooperative neighborhoods. Three follow-up studies (N = 624 participants in 39 groups) validate that this encouraging approach can scaffold group cooperation absent the "black box" of deep learning. Deep learning can help explore and identify new approaches to support human cooperation and prosociality.
Post-translational modifications influence transcription factor activity: A view from the ETS superfamily (2005)

Transcription factors provide nodes of information integration by serving as nuclear effectors of multiple signaling cascades, and thus elaborate layers of regulation, often involving post-translational modifications, modulating and coordinate activities. Such modifications can rapidly and reversibly regulate virtually all transcription factor functions, including subcellular localization, stability, interactions with cofactors, other post-translational modifications and transcriptional activities. Aside from analyses of the effects of serine/threonine phosphorylation, studies on post-translational modifications of transcription factors are only in the initial stages. In particular, the regulatory possibilities afforded by combinatorial usage of and competition between distinct modifications on an individual protein are immense, and with respect to large families of closely related transcription factors, offer the potential of conferring critical specificity. Here we will review the post-translational modifications known to regulate ETS transcriptional effectors and will discuss specific examples of how such modifications influence their activities to highlight emerging paradigms in transcriptional regulation.
Engineering new urea-based supramolecular polymers for the charaterization of weak interactions in solution : the supramolecular balance (2016)

New self-assembling bis-urea molecules bearing an ester moiety have been synthesized and their properties studied. These ester bis-ureas display two new assemblies: a helical filament and a double helical filament. A cooperative transition is observed between the two structures at a temperature T**. The structure of these assemblies was studied using a combination of FTIR, SANS, CD and molecular modeling. This new design allows an easy access to chiral bis-ureas that were used in the context of three different projects. (1) In the context of chirality amplification, the majority rules effect in ester bis-ureas was studied in order to determine a structure-property relationship. (2) Some ester bis-ureas presented all the necessary properties for their use as a supramolecular balance designed to measure weak interactions in solution. We used this system to measure halogen···halogen interactions in low polarity solvents as those were, to our knowledge, never observed in solution. (3) With specific ester bis-ureas, a third type of assembly was observed at lower temperature that is characterized by the formation of hydrogen bonds between urea and ester moieties. Surprisingly, the reorganization of these hydrogen bonds during heating is responsible for an increase in viscosity. This property allows these compounds to be potential thermothickening additives.
The Host Galaxy of the Lensed Quasar Q0957+561 (2000)

Infrared images of the Q 0957+561 gravitational lens obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope show two large (\sim 5 arcsec) lensed images of the z_s=1.41 quasar host galaxy. Parts of the host galaxy are doubly-imaged like the quasar, while other parts are quadruply-imaged. The distortions of the host galaxy offer the best probe yet of the global structure of the lensing potential, which is essential for determining the Hubble constant from the measured time delay. The distortions are inconsistent with the predictions of previously published lens models, which invalidates those models and their implications for H_0. New models show that the distortions finally break the long-standing degeneracy between the shape of the lens galaxy and the tidal shear contributed by the cluster containing the lens galaxy. The shape of the lens galaxy's mass distribution must be remarkably similar to the shape of its luminosity distribution, and most models that produce reasonable values for the Hubble constant roughly match the observed ellipticity gradient and isophote twist of the lens galaxy. Also, the cluster must be non-spherical and produce a relatively small tidal shear. Although there are still degeneracies in the lens models that lead to a 25% uncertainty in the derived value of the Hubble constant, there are also strong prospects for new observations to further improve the constraints and reduce the uncertainties.
Homo viator, homo faber: brasil en la mirada de viajeros del siglo xix (2015)

En la tesis se analizan los relatos de viaje de Spix y Martius, Maria Graham, Hercules Florence, Principe Adalberto de Prusia, Francois Biard y la pareja Agassiz (Louise y Elisabeth) escritos durante el siglo XIX. A traves de sus textos se ha puesto de relieve la riqueza de matices sobre la realidad brasilena asi como el papel del viajero como artifice de lo que se llamo brasilidad. Es decir, se analiza la experiencia viajera como un hecho cientifico-romantico en el cual los protagonistas identifican al Otro a partir de si mismos. Los habitantes de las tierras visitadas muchas veces son percibidos como un no-yo, un foraneo, aunque en sus propia territorialidad. Esos sujetos historicos emiten juicios de valores sobre la realidad conocida, en contextos historico-politicos concretos, y con una proyeccion sobre la imagen de Brasil en decadas posteriores.
Structure of tetraphenylphosphonium tetracyanooxo[N-o-tolylhydroxylaminato(2-)-O,N]molybdate(VI) (1990)

[P(C 6 H 5 ) 4 ] 2 [Mo(CN) 4 (O)(C 7 H 7 NO)] cristallise dans P2 1 /n avec a=11,332, b=13,698, c=36,06 A, β=92,04 o , Z=4; affinement jusqu'a R=0,085. La geometrie autour du molybdene est de type bipyramide pentagonale. Cette structure est comparee a celles de complexes oxo-peroxo et oxaziridine du molybdene. Le cristal contient des anions [Mo(CN) 4 (O)(C 7 H 7 NO)] 2− et des cations [P(C 6 H 5 ) 4 ] + , dont l'empilement ne suit aucun motif particulier
Intelligent Sensor Modes Enable a New Generation of Machinery Diagnostics and Prognostics (2001)

Compelling economic, competitive, and technological factors are changing the way many companies view machinery maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activities. This shift toward a new Maintenance Management Paradigm has implications in many areas of the business including manufacturing scheduling, control, finance, inventory, quality. and asset management. Implementation of the new Maintenance Management Paradigm will require three fundamental building blocks. First, is a framework that enables the efficient re-use of best-in-class diagnostic and prognostic software, hardware, and sensor modules. An open-system architecture will be fundamental to meeting this objective. Second, is the ability to rapidly deploy needed hardware and software elements in a reliable and cost-effective manner across distributed system components. Wireless, intelligent sensor nodes will play an important role in the deployment of future systems. And third, is the infrastructure and that will permit system level integration of an ensemble of distributed intelligent system elements to develop actionable diagnostic and prognostic information. Higher-level diagnostic and prognostic information will drive critical decision making to insure maximum system reliability, lowest operating cost, maximum revenue generation or mission success for example. This paper provides specific examples of elements in the areas of Framework, Distributed Intelligent Modules, and Infrastructure for system-level integration.