gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Endogenous nociceptin/orphanin FQ signalling produces opposite spinal antinociceptive and supraspinal pronociceptive effects in the mouse formalin test: Pharmacological and genetic evidences (2006)

Nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) has been demonstrated to modulate nociceptive transmission via selective activation of N/OFQ peptide (NOP) receptors. Despite huge research efforts, the role(s) of the endogenous N/OFQ-NOP receptor system in pain processing remains incompletely understood. In the present study, we investigated the role of endogenous N/OFQ in the processing of tonic nociceptive input. To address this issue the effects of NOP-selective antagonists [Nphe1,Arg14,Lys15]N/OFQ-NH2 (UFP-101) and J-113397 on nociceptive behaviour, and the nociceptive phenotype of NOP receptor-deficient mice were tested in the mouse formalin test. Twenty microliters of 1.5% formalin solution was injected subcutaneously into the right hind paw causing a characteristic pattern of nociceptive behaviours (licking, biting and lifting of the injected paw). In control mice, the injection of formalin resulted in a classical biphasic nociceptive response with the first phase lasting from 0 to 10 min and the second phase from 15 to 45 min. UFP-101 at 10 nmol/mouse (but not at 1 nmol/mouse) produced antinociceptive action when injected intracerebroventricularly and a pronociceptive action when given intrathecally. Systemic administration of J-113397 (10 mg/kg, intravenously) and the genetic ablation of the NOP receptor gene both produced a significant increase of mouse nociceptive behaviour. Collectively, these results demonstrate that endogenous N/OFQ-NOP receptor signalling is activated during the mouse formalin test producing spinal antinociceptive and supraspinal pronociceptive effects. The overall effect of blocking NOP receptor signalling, by either systemic pharmacological antagonism or genetic ablation, indicates that the spinal antinociceptive action prevails over supraspinal pronociceptive effects.
On a Fast (k,n)-Threshold Secret Sharing Scheme (2008)

In Shamir's (k,n)-threshold secret sharing scheme (threshold scheme) [1], a heavy computational cost is required to make n shares and recover the secret from k shares. As a solution to this problem, several fast threshold schemes have been proposed. However, there is no fast ideal (k,n)-threshold scheme, where k and n are arbitrary. This paper proposes a new fast (k,n)-threshold scheme which uses just EXCLUSIVE-OR (XOR) operations to make n shares and recover the secret from k shares. We prove that every combination of k or more participants can recover the secret, but every group of less than k participants cannot obtain any information about the secret in the proposed scheme. Moreover, the proposed scheme is an ideal secret sharing scheme similar to Shamir's scheme, in which every bitsize of shares equals that of the secret. We also evaluate the efficiency of the scheme, and show that our scheme realizes operations that are much faster than Shamir's.
Exciton-blocking phosphonic acid-treated anode buffer layers for organic photovoltaics (2013)

We demonstrate significant improvements in power conversion efficiency of bilayer organic photovoltaics by replacing the exciton-quenching MoO3 anode buffer layer with an exciton-blocking benzylphosphonic acid (BPA)-treated MoO3 or NiO layer. We show that the phosphonic acid treatment creates buffers that block up to 70% of excitons without sacrificing the hole extraction efficiency. Compared to untreated MoO3 anode buffers, BPA-treated NiO buffers exhibit a ∼ 25% increase in the near-infrared spectral response in diphenylanilo functionalized squaraine (DPSQ)/C60-based bilayer devices, increasing the power conversion efficiency under 1 sun AM1.5G simulated solar illumination from 4.8 ± 0.2% to 5.4 ± 0.3%. The efficiency can be further increased to 5.9 ± 0.3% by incorporating a highly conductive exciton blocking bathophenanthroline (BPhen):C60 cathode buffer. We find similar increases in efficiency in two other small-molecule photovoltaic systems, indicating the generality of the phosphonic acid-treated buffer approach to enhance exciton blocking.
Novel UWB synchronization schemes based on the maximum likelihood criterion (2010)

The conventional ultra-wideband (UWB) synchronization schemes could cause poor performance in receiver operations such as demodulation after the synchronization, since unreliable timing information corresponding to low-power multipath components might be transferred to the next stage. To solve this problem, in this paper, we propose novel synchronization schemes for UWB systems. We first derive an optimal scheme based on the maximum likelihood (ML) criterion and then develop a simpler suboptimal scheme. Simulation results show that both proposed schemes provide a better synchronization performance than the conventional scheme.
Nucleosides CIII. Anhydropyrimidine‐<i>C</i>‐nueleosides. Synthesis of 4,2′‐anhydro‐5‐(β‐<scp>D</scp>‐arabinofuranosyl)‐ and 5‐(β‐<scp>D</scp>‐arabinofuranosyl)pyrimidine C‐nucleosides (1976)

Abstract 4,2′‐Anhydro‐5‐(β‐ D ‐arabinofuranosyl)isocytosine and 4,2′‐anhydro‐5‐(β‐ D ‐arabinofuranosyl)‐uracil were synthesized. Treatment of Ψ‐isocytidine with either α‐acetoxyisobutyryl chloride or salicyloyl chloride in acetonitrile afforded the acylated anhydronucleoside. Deacylation of the product with methanol‐hydrogen chloride afforded 4,2′‐anhydro‐5‐(β‐ D ‐arabinofuranosyl)isocylosine hydrochloride in crystalline form. Analogous reaction of Ψ‐uridine with the acyl chloride reagents, however, always gave a mixture of the acylated anhydronucleoside and 2′‐chloro‐2′‐deoxy‐Ψ‐uridine. Treatment of these products either singly or as a mixture with sodium methoxide in methanol afforded 4,2′‐anhydro‐5‐(β‐ D ‐arabinofuranosyl)uracil in crystalline form in good yield. 5‐(β‐ D ‐Arabinofuranosyl)isocytosine was obtained upon treatment of the corresponding 4,2′‐anhydronucleoside with 10% sodium hydroxide under reflux for 30 minutes. Treatment of the anhydro uracil nucleoside with a small amount of Dowex 50(H + ) in water at 50° gave 5‐(β‐ D ‐arabinofuranosyl)uracil.
Path diversity for enhanced media streaming (2004)

Media streaming over best effort packet networks such as the Internet is quite challenging because of the dynamic and unpredictable available bandwidth, loss rate, and delay. Recently, streaming over multiple paths to provide path diversity has emerged as an approach to help overcome these problems. This article provides an overview of the benefits and use of path diversity for media streaming. The different approaches to media coding and streaming over multiple paths are examined, together with architectures for achieving path diversity between single or multiple senders and a single receiver. Important examples include using the distributed servers in a content delivery network to provide path diversity to a requesting client, using multiple 802.11 wireless access points to provide path diversity to a mobile client, and using relays to provide low-latency media communication. The design, analysis, and operation of media streaming systems that use path diversity are considered, with emphasis on the accurate performance models needed to select the best paths or best servers.
High energy femtosecond Yb cubicon fiber amplifier (2005)

The generation of cubicon pulses from an Yb fiber chirped pulse amplification system at pulse energies up to 200 microJ is demonstrated. After pulse compression 650 fs pulses with a pulse energy of 100 microJ are obtained, where pulse compression relies on the compensation of third-order dispersion mismatch between the stretcher and compressor via self-phase modulation of the cubicon pulses in the fiber amplifier. Values of self-phase modulation well in excess of pi can be tolerated for cubicon pulses, allowing for the nonlinear compensation of very large levels of dispersion mismatch between pulse stretcher and compressor.
Glucose Intolerance and Reduced Proliferation of Pancreatic β-Cells in Transgenic Pigs With Impaired Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide Function (2010)

The first large animal model with impaired incretin function demonstrates an essential role of GIP for insulin secretion, proliferation of beta-cells, and physiological expansion of beta-cell mass.
Joint importance sampling of low-order volumetric scattering (2013)

Central to all Monte Carlo-based rendering algorithms is the construction of light transport paths from the light sources to the eye. Existing rendering approaches sample path vertices incrementally when constructing these light transport paths. The resulting probability density is thus a product of the conditional densities of each local sampling step, constructed without explicit control over the form of the final joint distribution of the complete path. We analyze why current incremental construction schemes often lead to high variance in the presence of participating media, and reveal that such approaches are an unnecessary legacy inherited from traditional surface-based rendering algorithms. We devise joint importance sampling of path vertices in participating media to construct paths that explicitly account for the product of all scattering and geometry terms along a sequence of vertices instead of just locally at a single vertex. This leads to a number of practical importance sampling routines to explicitly construct single-and double-scattering subpaths in anisotropically-scattering media. We demonstrate the benefit of our new sampling techniques, integrating them into several path-based rendering algorithms such as path tracing, bidirectional path tracing, and many-light methods. We also use our sampling routines to generalize deterministic shadow connections to connection subpaths consisting of two or three random decisions, to efficiently simulate higher-order multiple scattering. Our algorithms significantly reduce noise and increase performance in renderings with both isotropic and highly anisotropic, low-order scattering.
A Direct Mechanism of Ultrafast Intramolecular Singlet Fission in Pentacene Dimers (2016)

Interest in materials that undergo singlet fission (SF) has been catalyzed by the potential to exceed the Shockley-Queisser limit of solar power conversion efficiency. In conventional materials, the mechanism of SF is an intermolecular process (xSF), which is mediated by charge transfer (CT) states and depends sensitively on crystal packing or molecular collisions. In contrast, recently reported covalently coupled pentacenes yield ∼2 triplets per photon absorbed in individual molecules: the hallmark of intramolecular singlet fission (iSF). However, the mechanism of iSF is unclear. Here, using multireference electronic structure calculations and transient absorption spectroscopy, we establish that iSF can occur via a direct coupling mechanism that is independent of CT states. We show that a near-degeneracy in electronic state energies induced by vibronic coupling to intramolecular modes of the covalent dimer allows for strong mixing between the correlated triplet pair state and the local excitonic state, despite weak direct coupling.
Consumption of Polyphenol-Rich Zingiber Zerumbet Rhizome Extracts Protects against the Breakdown of the Blood-Retinal Barrier and Retinal Inflammation Induced by Diabetes (2015)

The present study investigates the amelioration of diabetic retinopathy (DR) by Zingiber zerumbet rhizome ethanol extracts (ZZRext) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (STZ-diabetic rats). ZZRext contains high phenolic and flavonoid contents. STZ-diabetic rats were treated orally with ZZRext (200, 300 mg/kg per day) for three months. Blood-retinal barrier (BRB) breakdown and increased vascular permeability were found in diabetic rats, with downregulation of occludin, and claudin-5. ZZRext treatment effectively preserved the expression of occludin, and claudin-5, leading to less BRB breakdown and less vascular permeability. Retinal histopathological observation showed that the disarrangement and reduction in thickness of retinal layers were reversed in ZZRext-treated diabetic rats. Retinal gene expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, vascular endothelial growth factor, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 were all decreased in ZZRext-treated diabetic rats. Moreover, ZZRext treatment not only inhibited the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation, but also downregulated the protein expression of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in diabetic retina. In conclusion, the results suggest that the retinal protective effects of ZZRext occur through improved retinal structural change and inhibiting retinal inflammation. The antiretinopathy property of ZZRext might be related to the downregulation of p38 MAPK and NF-κB signal transduction induced by diabetes.
Alkali Metal Silicides: A New Material for Heavy Oil Production Processes (2014)

Abstract Alkali metal silicides are a new class of materials that can provide thermal, chemical and immiscible gas drive benefits in one treatment. Not previously known in oilfield applications, these materials are solid, energy-dense chemicals that generate heat, hydrogen and an alkali silicate upon reaction with reservoir water. The reaction is only limited by availability of any type of water; in a closed environment, pressures &gt;10,000 psi can be generated. Alkali metal silicides are dispersible in various hydrocarbon fluids to facilitate placement in a reservoir and can be coated to allow time delayed reaction. The powders can also be milled to submicron size for optimum injectivity in high permeability reservoirs. This combination of material and reaction-product properties makes silicides particularly applicable for the recovery of heavier crude oils. Since the chemical reaction occurs in-situ, silicides are not subject to the thermal efficiency limitations of conventional thermal EOR processes at depth. Further, the resulting hydrogen and silicate reaction products represent a "green" chemistry approach that may reduce the environmental impact of oil recovery operations. This paper presents bench scale core flood results demonstrating that alkali metal silicides can recover greater than 50% of residual oil. Results also show that alkali metal silicides can provide accelerated oil production, as much as 20% faster than comparable chemical technologies.
Morphologic assessment of peripheral blood smears in patients with circulating tumor cells (CTCs) (2008)

1137 Background: We recently described a novel method for detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood using indirect immunofluorescence for epithelial-derived cells in conjunction with fiber-optic array scanning technology (FAST). The current study was designed to assess microscopic features on peripheral blood smears in metastatic cancer patients with CTCs to see if any morphologic parameters were affected. Methods: Wright-Giemsa stained smears of EDTA-anti-coagulated peripheral blood were prepared and assessed microscopically at 40x and 100x (using oil immersion). Parameters studied included differential white blood cell count, proportions of lymphocyte subsets, grade of neutrophil and monocyte activation, and the presence or absence of rouleaux formation, platelet satellitosis and platelet clumping. Three groups were studied: normal healthy donors (n=8), metastatic tumor patients without detectable CTCs (n=10), and metastatic tumor patients with detectable CTCs (n=12). Results: A trend towards increased neutrophilia and decreased lymphocytosis (with increased proportions of activated and large granular lymphocytes) was observed in metastatic tumor patients with detectable CTCs versus tumor patients without detectable CTCs. Other features such as platelet clumping, rouleaux formation, and monocyte activation were occasionally observed, but did not vary significantly between the three groups. Platelet satellitosis was only observed in one sample, from a patient with undetectable CTCs. Conclusions: EDTA-induced platelet clumping/satellitosis is not increased in patients with CTCs. However, an increased proportion of activated and large granular lymphocytes was observed in patients with metastatic disease and detectable CTCs as compared to patients with metastatic disease and no detectable CTCs. Further studies using flow cytometry may be helpful to objectively characterize lymphocyte subsets (e.g. CD4, CD8) in patients with CTCs. These and other studies will help to delineate whether altered lymphocyte subset profiles reflect a T-cell response to CTCs and, if so, whether these have prognostic and/or therapeutic value. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Oral Bacterial Acid–Base Metabolism in Caries Screening: A Proof-Of-Concept Study (2016)

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to clinically validate an array of biochemical tests for oral acid/alkali generation as caries screening instruments. 185 adult subjects (mean 33.6±10.6 years) were examined clinically for dental caries using the ICDAS criteria. Bitewing radiographs were used to confirm interproximal surfaces of posterior teeth. For the purposes of this study, subjects were classified as "caries-active" if they had at least one untreated caries lesion with ICDAS 4 or higher. Pooled supragingival plaque and unstimulated saliva samples were collected and assayed for pH changes from sucrose and urea metabolism using colorimetric tests. The validity of each test to discriminate between "caries-inactive" and "caries-active" subjects was assessed and compared to a commercial bacteriological caries-screening test using roc regression and logistic regression models. The AUCs of the plaque-urea (PU: 0.59 (0.51, 0.67)), plaque-urea-glucose (PUG: 0.59 (0.51, 0.67)) and saliva-urea-glucose (SUG: 0.59 (0.51, 0.67)) tests did not differ significantly from the bacteriological tests (CRT-mutans: 0.62 (0.54, 0.70); CRT-lactobacillus: 0.63 (0.56, 0.71) (P>0.05), but the plaque-glucose (SG), saliva-glucose (SG), saliva-urea (SU) and saliva-plaque-glucose (SPG) tests had significantly smaller AUCs (P<0.05). The AUCs for the PU, PUG, SUG, and the CRT-mutans tests were higher in subjects who had no existing dental restorations (PU: 0.90 (0.77, 1.04); PUG: 0.90 (0.79, 1.01); SUG: 0.89 (0.69, 1.08); CRT-mutans: 0.90 (0.73, 1.08)). The incorporation of the biochemical tests into a multidimensional bacteriological/psychosocial caries screening model significantly increased its diagnostic values (Se+Sp: 160.6, AUC: 0.846). In conclusion, as a proof of concept, the results of this study indicate that measuring the ability of dental plaque and saliva to metabolize urea together with the ability to generate acid from sugars may have a promising role in caries screening either independently, or as part of a multidimensional biological test.
Facile Synthesis and Catalysis of Pure-Silica and Heteroatom LTA (2015)

Zeolite A (LTA) has many large-scale uses in separations and ion exchange applications. Because of the high aluminum content and lack of high-temperature stability, applications in catalysis, while highly desired, have been extremely limited. Herein, we report a robust method to prepare pure-silica, aluminosilicate (product Si/Al = 12–42), and titanosilicate LTA in fluoride media using a simple, imidazolium-based organic structure-directing agent. The aluminosilicate material is an active catalyst for the methanol-to-olefins reaction with higher product selectivities to butenes as well as C5 and C6 products than the commercialized silicoalumniophosphate or zeolite analogue that both have the chabazite framework (SAPO-34 and SSZ-13, respectively). The crystal structures of the as-made and calcined pure-silica materials were solved using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, providing information about the occluded organics and fluoride as well as structural information.
Synthesis and Biological Activity of 25-Hydroxy-2-methylene-vitamin D<sub>3</sub> Analogues Monohydroxylated in the A-ring (2014)

The 20R- and 20S-isomers of 25-hydroxy-2-methylene-vitamin D3 and 3-desoxy-1α,25-dihydroxy-2-methylene-vitamin D3 have been synthesized. Two alternative synthetic routes were devised for preparation of the required A-ring synthons, starting from the chiral compound derived from the (-)-quinic acid and, alternatively, from the commercially available achiral precursor, monoprotected 1,4-cyclohexanedione. The A-ring dienynes were coupled by the Sonogashira process with the respective C,D-ring fragments, the enol triflates derived from the protected (20R)- or (20S)-25-hydroxy Grundmann ketones. All four compounds possessed significant in vivo activity on bone calcium mobilization and intestinal calcium transport. The presence of a 2-methylene group increased intestinal calcium transport activity of all four analogues above that of the native hormone, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. In contrast, bone calcium mobilization was equal to that produced by 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in compounds having a (20S)-configuration or diminished to one-tenth that of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in compounds with a (20R)-configuration.
Characterization of solder flow on PWB surfaces (1995)

Different solderability tests have been developed to determine the wetting behavior of solder on metallic surfaces. None offer an exact measure of capillary flow associated with conventional mixed technology soldering. With shrinking package designs, increasing reliability requirements, and the emergence of new soldering technologies, there is a growing need to better understand and predict the flow of solder on printed wiring board (PWB) surfaces. Sandia National Laboratories has developed a capillary flow solderability test, through a joint effort with the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, that considers this fundamental wetting issue for surface mount technology. The test geometry consists of a metal strip (width, {delta}) connected to a circular metal pad (radius, r{sub c}). Test methodology, experimental results, and validation of a flow model are presented in this paper.
<title>Color diffusion: error diffusion for color halftones</title> (1998)

Error Diffusion is a high-performance halftoning method in which quantization errors are diffused to 'future' pixels. Originally intended for grayscale images, it is traditionally extended to color images by Error-Diffusing each of the three color planes independently. In this paper we show that augmenting the Error Diffusion paradigm with a simple design rule based on certain characteristics of human color perception, results in a novel color halftoning algorithm named color diffusion. The output of color diffusion is of considerable higher quality compared to separable error diffusion. The algorithm presented requires no additional memory and entails a reasonable increase in run-time.
Preoperative Wireless Capsule Endoscopy Does Not Predict Outcome After Ileal Pouch-Anal Anastomosis (2010)

There was no statistical association between the results of preoperative wireless capsule endoscopy and outcome after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis in patients with ulcerative colitis or indeterminate colitis. There seems to be little value of wireless capsule endoscopy in the preoperative evaluation of these patients.