gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Novel immunotherapeutic approaches in targeting dendritic cells with virus vectors (2015)

Viruses have evolved efficient strategies to overcome cellular membranes and transfer nucleic acid into a host cell. This property is being exploited in gene therapy which has the goal of delivering therapeutic genes into a patient tissue in order to achieve a clinically relevant effect. An interesting target for virus-mediated gene transfer is the immune system. In fact, the first human gene therapy trial performed involved the implantation of autologous bone marrow cells transduced ex vivo with gamma retrovirus vectors expressing adenosine deaminase in a patient with severe combined immunodeficiency. More recently, targeting transgene expression to dendritic cells (DCs) has become a promising strategy for directing the immune system towards immunity or tolerance. DC targeting has been achieved on a transcriptional level by using DC-specific promoters or by retargeting the tropism of the virus vectors. For example, we and others have developed strategies that support antigen-specific immune tolerance by transducing hematopoietic stem cells with lentivirus- or gamma retrovirus- vectors that transcriptionally target antigen expression to DCs. This review discusses the state of the art of vector-targeting to DCs in preclinical as well as clinical trials.
Wearable Sensor-Based Rehabilitation Exercise Assessment for Knee Osteoarthritis (2015)

Since the knee joint bears the full weight load of the human body and the highest pressure loads while providing flexible movement, it is the body part most vulnerable and susceptible to osteoarthritis. In exercise therapy, the early rehabilitation stages last for approximately six weeks, during which the patient works with the physical therapist several times each week. The patient is afterwards given instructions for continuing rehabilitation exercise by him/herself at home. This study develops a rehabilitation exercise assessment mechanism using three wearable sensors mounted on the chest, thigh and shank of the working leg in order to enable the patients with knee osteoarthritis to manage their own rehabilitation progress. In this work, time-domain, frequency-domain features and angle information of the motion sensor signals are used to classify the exercise type and identify whether their postures are proper or not. Three types of rehabilitation exercise commonly prescribed to knee osteoarthritis patients are: Short-Arc Exercise, Straight Leg Raise, and Quadriceps Strengthening Mini-squats. After ten subjects performed the three kinds of rehabilitation activities, three validation techniques including 10-fold cross-validation, within subject cross validation, and leave-one-subject cross validation are utilized to confirm the proposed mechanism. The overall recognition accuracy for exercise type classification is 97.29% and for exercise posture identification it is 88.26%. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed mechanism which can help patients perform rehabilitation movements and progress effectively. Moreover, the proposed mechanism is able to detect multiple errors at once, fulfilling the requirements for rehabilitation assessment.
Farnesol secretion as a possible driving force for maintaining Candida albicans as a diploid (2021)

Candida albicans is a pathogenic dimorphic fungus which is invariably found as a diploid in patients. C. albicans secretes the sesquiterpene farnesol both as a quorum sensing molecule which blocks the yeast to hypha conversion and as a virulence factor for pathogenicity. 20-25 μM farnesol kills other competing yeasts and fungi, often by triggering apoptosis, and yet wild type diploid C. albicans tolerates 300-500 μM farnesol. The recent availability of 10 haploid strains of C. albicans (5 mating type aand 5 mating type α) allowed us to compare their production of and sensitivity to farnesol. On average, the heterozygous diploid strains of C. albicans were 2.4 times more resistant to 20-40 μM farnesol than MTLa haploid cells and 4.6 times more resistant than MTLα haploid cells. Furthermore, the MTLa haploids produce approximately 10 times more farnesol than do the MTLα haploids. Prior work concluded that haploid strains exhibited such low fitness that C. albicans was thought to be an obligate diploid. We now suggest that increased farnesol secretion by the MTLa haploids and increased farnesol sensitivity of the MTLα haploids is a mechanism for maintaining the dominant heterozygous diploid status of C. albicans . This idea is based on the observation that the a-factor peptide pheromone is farnesylated but the α-factor pheromone is not farnesylated. Our working hypothesis is that farnesol is secreted in part via Ste6 and imported in part via Ste3, the proteins which export and import the farnesylated a-pheromone. We also examined whether farnesol was excreted in extracellular vesicles.
A foldable stereo vision unit for Single Port Access Laparoscopy (2014)

SPAL (Single Port Access Laparoscopy) could lead to improved surgical outcomes but demands functional and effective next-generation surgical tools. Various manual tools and robotic assistant systems have been developed in response to the unmet needs of SPAL. This paper presents the concept, design considerations and experimental characterizations of a foldable stereo vision unit with integrated illumination. The vision unit can be inserted into the abdomen through a Ø12mm trocar in a cylindrical laparoscope form. It can then unfold itself into a working configuration, providing 3D visualization of the surgical site as well as a remaining access port for manipulation arms or surgical tools. Given its standalone features, the vision unit could either be used for SPAL in a robotic assistant system or be applied in a surgical setting with standard manual tools.
A newly developed spine deformity index (SDI) to quantitate vertebral crush fractures in patients with osteoporosis. (1988)

The available methods to quantitate vertebral deformity in osteoporotics are not satisfactory in comparing follow-up measurements in patients. This paper describes a newly developed 'spine deformity index' (SDI) which allows the quantitation of the extent of vertebral fractures. It is based on the observation that, in 110 normal persons, the heights of all vertebral bodies were related to each other in a predictable and constant manner. This relation was independent of the body height of the individual and was preserved despite growth acceleration during the last century. Since in all but one of our osteoporotic patients the 4th thoracic vertebra was unfractured we were able to compare the actual size of their fractured vertebrae to the calculated presumable original heights. The differences between presumable original and actual heights gave a measure of the extent of vertebral compression and allowed to define an index representing the sum of all spinal fractures in osteoporotics. The method was applied retrospectively to X-rays of 39 patients with idiopathic osteoporosis. Thirty-two of them were treated orally with 80 mg sodium fluoride, 1,000 mg calcium and 3000 IE vitamin D daily. Treatment resulted in a reduction of the progression of vertebral deformity. Seven inadequately treated patients had more pronounced progression of vertebral deformity.
Evaluation of Serum S100B as a Surrogate Marker for Long-term Outcome and Infarct Volume in Acute Middle Cerebral Artery Infarction (2005)

Single S100B values obtained 48 and 72 hours after stroke onset provide the highest predictive values with respect to functional outcome and infarct volume in nonlacunar middle cerebral artery infarction. More complex measures of the S100B kinetic (ie, area under the curve or peak value) were not superior. Therefore, these single S100B measures appear to be useful surrogate end points in acute interventional stroke trials.
Optical properties of Ag and Au nanowire gratings (2001)

The optical response of regularly arranged noble metal wires with nanoscopic cross sections (nanowire gratings) strongly depends on the polarization direction of the incident light. We use silver and gold nanowire gratings produced by electron beam lithography to study this effect by optical extinction spectroscopy. For a polarization direction perpendicular to the wire axis, the excitation of a dipolar plasmon mode dominates the extinction spectrum. The spectral position of the plasmon resonance can be tuned by an appropriate choice of nanowire geometry and material. For a polarization direction parallel to the wire axis, the profile of the extinction spectrum varies mainly as a function of the grating constant. In particular, a transmission maximum for small grating constants is found. By combining the surface plasmon excitation and grating effect for orthogonal polarization directions, a spectrally selective polarizer with an extinction ratio of 26 is demonstrated.
A Review of the Use of GPEs in Zinc-Based Batteries. A Step Closer to Wearable Electronic Gadgets and Smart Textiles (2020)

With the flourish of flexible and wearable electronics gadgets, the need for flexible power sources has become essential. The growth of this increasingly diverse range of devices boosted the necessity to develop materials for such flexible power sources such as secondary batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, sensors, dye-sensitized solar cells, etc. In that context, comprehensives studies on flexible conversion and energy storage devices have been released for other technologies such Li-ion standing out the importance of the research done lately in GPEs (gel polymer electrolytes) for energy conversion and storage. However, flexible zinc batteries have not received the attention they deserve within the flexible batteries field, which are destined to be one of the high rank players in the wearable devices future market. This review presents an extensive overview of the most notable or prominent gel polymeric materials, including biobased polymers, and zinc chemistries as well as its practical or functional implementation in flexible wearable devices. The ultimate aim is to highlight zinc-based batteries as power sources to fill a segment of the world flexible batteries future market.
Thermal Fatigue Properties of Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-<i>x</i>Ni Flip Chip Interconnects (2004)

Thermal fatigue properties of Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-xNi (x: 0.02, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 mass%) flip chip interconnects was investigated to find out an ideal nickel composition. Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-xNi (x: 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20) had longer thermal fatigue life than Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.02Ni. Cracks developed near solder/chip interface for all the bumps tested, and fracture due to thermal strain was a mixed mode, both transgranular and intergranular. Sn grain growth after thermal cycling was suppressed for Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-xNi (x: 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20) solder joints, while Sn grains grew faster for x = 0.02, which suggests that suppression of Sn grain growth enhanced thermal fatigue endurance. Therefore, thermal fatigue properties of Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-xNi (x: 0.02, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20) solder joint correlated to its microstructure, and the addition of 0.05 mass%Ni is required to enhance thermal fatigue endurance.
Antigen-induced IL-17 response in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of healthy controls (2000)

IL-17 is a T cell cytokine with a complex and important role in the immune system. It has been detected in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial membrane and found to stimulate the production of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in vitro. To date, there are few data available on the agents that stimulate IL-17 production. We therefore investigated the in vitro IL-17 response to a variety of mitogens and antigens, and compared the IL-17 response to interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), IL-4, IL-10 and TNF-alpha. In this study we used a type-0 antigen, tetanus toxoid (TT), a type-1 antigen, PPD from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a potential type-2 rye grass (RG) antigen (Lol I) and an autoantigen SS.B (La), to stimulate PBMC from healthy controls. Cytokine mRNA was measured using semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and cytokine protein measured using specific ELISA techniques, while the frequency of IL-17-producing T cells was determined by flow cytometry. The mitogens concanavalin A, phytohaemagglutinin and phorbol myristate acetate/ionomycin induced a significant increase in IL-17, with the highest levels being produced by anti-CD3/anti-CD28 stimulation. The antigens TT and PPD significantly increased IL-17 mRNA expression over time, but failed to have such an effect at the protein level. IL-17 protein was also detectable in both antigen-specific (TT, SS. B) and non-specific T cell clones, but at levels lower than IFN-gamma. IL-17 production did not correlate with either the type-1 cytokine IFN-gamma or TNF-alpha or the type-2 cytokine IL-4 or IL-10 at either the mRNA or protein level.
Grid Creation Strategies for Efficient Ray Tracing (2007)

Both theoretical analysis and practical experience have shown that when ray tracing a well-behaved model with N geometric primitives, the lowest ray tracing times using a grid acceleration structure occurs when the grid has 0(N) cells. This paper extends the theoretical analysis in two ways and then experimentally verifies that analysis for several geometric models. The first extension is to examine how model characteristics influence the choice of the number of cells in a grid, with models made of long thin primitives being of particular interest. For such models, the lowest trace times come when O(N <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1.5</sup> ) cells are used, but may not always be practical due to the super-linear memory usage. The second extension is to nested grids where a grid cell may itself contain another grid. For the case of scattered data such as exploding particles, nesting is not helpful. For the case of tessellated manifolds with compact triangles, O(N <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.6</sup> ) cells at top level is optimal if only one level of nesting is allowed. For d levels of nesting, O(N <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3/(3+2d)</sup> ) is optimal for the top level. For long thin primitives, O(N) cells at the top level is optimal when one level of nesting is allowed, but this again comes at the cost of super-linear memory usage.
Controlling the Location of Nanoparticles in Polymer Blends by Tuning the Length and End Group of Polymer Brushes (2011)

This paper investigates controlling the location of nanoparticles (NPs) in a phase-separated polymer blend of deuterated poly(methyl methyl methacrylate) (dPMMA) and poly(styrene-<i>ran</i>-acrylonitrile) (SAN). Silica NPs are grafted with PMMA brushes having molecular weights of 1800, 21000, and 160000 at fixed grafting density. Using ion beam milling combined with SEM imaging, NP location and morphology are investigated for blends containing 10 wt % NP. With increasing brush length, the NPs are found to segregate to the dPMMA/SAN interface, partition between the interface and dPMMA phase, or locate in the dPMMA phase, respectively.
Correlation between major histocompatibility complex class I molecules and CD8 <sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes in prostate, and quantification of CD8 and interferon‐γ mRNA in prostate tissue specimens (2002)

Down-regulation of MHC class I expression by prostate cancer cells is associated with fewer CD8+ T lymphocytes and hence might be important in cancer growth. In addition, the measurement of gene expression in small tissue samples might be useful for monitoring the efficacy of treatment throughout cancer therapy.
Integrated High Power Modules (2012)

Historically, each discipline in power electronics has been pursued independently, and as a result, individual product classes, such as power modules, passive components, thermal management systems, gate drives and converters, have been developed without full consideration of the inter-component interactions. This serial approach to design and manufacture has reached its limit and further advances will only be made through greater levels of structural and functional integration. In this paper we examine some of the underpinning technologies that influence the design of power electronic components and the constraints that these impose on the level of integration that is practicable. Thermal and electromagnetic design issues are examined in detail along with some alternative approaches and technologies for module assembly. A flexible and scalable modular approach is proposed in which power substrates, based on commutation cells with the addition of appropriate passive components and sensors, are combined in parallel and series with appropriate thermal management and gate-drive technologies to deliver a broad range of power module solutions.
Security Considerations for Code Signing (2018)

A wide range of software products (also known as code)-including firmware, operating systems, mobile applications, and application container images-must be distributed and updated in a secure and automatic way to prevent forgery and tampering. Digitally signing code provides both data integrity to prove that the code was not modified, and source authentication to identify who signed the code. This paper describes features and architectural relationships of typical code signing solutions that are widely deployed today. It defines code signing use cases and identifies some security problems that can arise when applying code signing solutions to those use cases. Finally, it provides recommendations for avoiding those problems and resources for more information.
Pyrene Scaffold as Real-Time Fluorescent Turn-on Chemosensor for Selective Detection of Trace-Level Al(III) and Its Aggregation-Induced Emission Enhancement (2015)

A pyrene based fluorescent probe, 3-methoxy-2-((pyren-2yl-imino)methyl)phenol (HL), was synthesized via simple one-pot reaction from inexpensive reagents. It exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity toward Al(3+) over other relevant metal ions and also displayed novel aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) characteristics in its aggregate/solid state. When bound with Al(3+) in 1:1 mode, a significant fluorescence enhancement with a turn-on ratio of over ∼200-fold was triggered via chelation-enhanced fluorescence through sensor complex (Al-L) formation, and amusingly excess addition of Al(3+), dramatic enhancement of fluorescence intensity over manifold through aggregate formation was observed. The 1:1 stoichiometry of the sensor complex (Al-L) was calculated from Job's plot based on UV-vis absorption titration. In addition, the binding site of sensor complex (Al-L) was well-established from the (1)H NMR titrations and also supported by the fluorescence reversibility by adding Al(3+) and EDTA sequentially. Intriguingly, the AIEE properties of HL may improve its impact and studied in CH3CN-H2O mixtures at high water content. To gain insight into the AIEE mechanism of the HL, the size and growth process of particles in different volume percentage of water and acetonitrile mixture were studied using time-resolved photoluminescence, dynamic light scattering, optical microscope, and scanning electron microscope. The molecules of HL are aggregated into ordered one-dimensional rod-shaped microcrystals that show obvious optical waveguide effect.
Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma Deposition Technique Using Raw Material Supply by Sputtering (1984)

A low temperature plasma deposition method using a raw material supply by sputtering has been developed. A microwave electron cyclotron resonance technique was used for highly ionized plasma generation and plasma stream extraction at low gas pressures of 10 -3 to 10 -1 Pa. Gas molecules, and particles sputtered by ions in the plasma stream are ionized and transported to the specimen substrate with an energy of 10 to 30 eV. Fully oxidized, dense and high quality films of tantalum oxide and aluminum oxide were obtained at room temperature.
Corrosion Mechanisms of Cu Bond Wires on AlSi Pads (2015)

Abstract Cu wires were bonded to AlSi (1%) pads, subsequently encapsulated and subjected to uHAST (un-biased Highly Accelerated Stress Test, 130 °C and 85% relative humidity). After the test, a pair of bonding interfaces associated with a failing contact resistance and a passing contact resistance were analyzed and compared, with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The data suggested the corrosion rates were higher for the more Cu-rich Cu-Al intermetallics (IMC) in the failing sample. The corrosion was investigated with factors including electromotive force (EMF), self-passivation of Al, thickness and homogeneity of the Al-oxide on the IMC, ratio of the Cu-to-Al surface areas exposed to the electrolyte for an IMC taken into account. The preferential corrosion observed for the Cu-rich IMC is attributed to the high ratios of the surface areas of the cathode and anode that were exposed to the electrolyte, and the passivation oxide of Al with the lower homogeneity. The corrosion of the Cu-Al IMC is just a manifestation of the well-known phenomenon of dealloying. With the understanding of the corrosion mechanisms, prohibiting the formation of Cu-rich IMCs is expected be an approach to improve the corrosion resistance of the wire bonding.
In-hospital costs of an admission for adhesive small bowel obstruction (2016)

The in-hospital costs of an admission for ASBO are higher than previously thought. These costs can be used to guide hospital reimbursement policy and for the development of a cost-effective model for the use of adhesion barriers.