gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Virtual portal pressure gradient from anatomic CT angiography (2014)

By definition, portal hypertension means pathological elevation of the portal pressure gradient (PPG), the direct measurement of which is extremely invasive. This has prompted the use of the less invasive hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG), widely accepted as the PPG equivalent.1–3 In a recent article in Gut , HVPG was used as the only criterion to assess haemodynamic response (reduction in HVPG of ≥20% or to values <12 mm Hg) rates to carvedilol in propranolol non-responders.1 Although accurate, HVPG is still invasive, and thus not routinely performed in all centres.2 ,3 As HVPG becomes standard practice, repeated invasive measurement has stimulated the search for non-invasive techniques to measure PPG.3–5 Here, we present a virtual PPG (vPPG) based on CT angiography and Doppler ultrasound.

The VIRGIN Study was a multicentre, blinded, prospective, analytical trial carried out at Tongji Hospital, Shanghai and 302 Hospital, Beijing. The study was …
SYNTHESIS AND FUNGICIDAL ACTIVITY OF 1-(1H-1,2,4-TRIAZOL-1 -YL)ALKYL-1-SILACYCLOHEXANES (1998)

A series of six-membered ring organosilicon compounds, 1-aryl-1-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)alkyl-1-silacyclohexanes 3a-c, have been synthesized by four-step reactions starting from 1-(chloroalkyl)trichlorosilanes. Their fungicidal activities were tested in in vitro for ten fungi and in vivo assay for four fungi occurring in rice, barley, tomato, and etc. and compared with the flusilazole. Especially, 1-p-fluorophenyl-1-[1-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)alkyl]-1-silacyclohexanes (3a, alkyl=methyl; 3b, alkyl=ethyl) showed good fungicidal activity with broad spectrum close to the flusilazole in in vivo assay.
Extent of parameter variability for different pulses from a passively mode-locked fibre laser (2014)

This work demonstrates that fibre lasers mode-locked due to non-linear polarisation evolution (NPE) feature a very broad range of their pulse parameter variation in different generation regimes of these lasers. Both numerical modelling and experimental studies confirm that pulse parameters, such as duration and spectrum width may differ by an order of magnitude and more. This ultra-broad variability of pulse parameters in fibre lasers mode-locked due to NPE is unique and has no analogues in other mode-locked lasers. Relatively broad range of key pulse parameters of fibre lasers modelocked due to NPE requires that at least the duration and spectral width of the generated pulses be interactively controlled. For instance, adjustment of polarisation controllers in these lasers may change the pulse duration from 4 to 80 ps and the spectrum width from 0.2 to 7.4 nm.
Prosthetic Lumbar disc replacement for degenerative disc disease (2005)

Mechanical articulated device to replace intervertebral disc as a treatment for low back pain secondary to disc degeneration has emerged as a promising tool for selected patients. The potential advantages are prevention of adjacent segment degeneration, maintenance of mobility as well as avoidance of all the complications associated with fusion. The short-term results have been comparable to that of fusion, a few mid-term results have shown mixed outcome, but information on long-term results and performance are not available at present. The rationale for lumbar disc arthroplasty, indications, contraindications, the various artificial devices in the market and the concepts intrinsic to each of them, basic technique of insertion, complications are discussed and a brief summary of our experience with one of the devices is presented.
Estimating the residual ear canal contribution to complex acoustic reflectance measurements using pole-zero fitting (2014)

For diagnostic acoustic measurements of the middle ear, the residual ear canal (REC) between the probe and tympanic membrane (TM) is a significant source of non-pathological variability. Tympanometry measures the TM compliance as a function of canal static pressure, at a single frequency (226 Hz). Alternatively, wideband reflectance is measured at ambient pressure, over a large frequency range (0.2–6.0 kHz). To account for the REC effect, tympanometry assumes that the compliance tends to zero at large static pressures, which may not be a valid assumption (Rabinowitz, 1981), whereas reflectance assumes that the REC contributes a lossless delay. Previously, the authors developed a method to parameterize complex reflectance measurements using pole-zero fits, which may be factored into all-pass and minimum-phase components. The lossless all-pass component approximates the unknown REC delay, while the low-frequency TM compliance may be estimated from the minimum-phase component. Using this approach, we evaluate middle ear static pressure data from a controlled study of cadaver ears (Voss, 2012) and an in vivo study in which subjects were trained to induce negative middle ear pressure, as well as controlled syringe measurements. Our results indicate that the TM compliance is not zero at the static pressure extremes measured under tympanometry.
iSoft (2017)

We present iSoft, a single volume soft sensor capable of sensing real-time continuous contact and unidirectional stretching. We propose a low-cost and an easy way to fabricate such piezoresistive elastomer-based soft sensors for instant interactions. We employ an electrical impedance tomography (EIT) technique to estimate changes of resistance distribution on the sensor caused by fingertip contact. To compensate for the rebound elasticity of the elastomer and achieve real-time continuous contact sensing, we apply a dynamic baseline update for EIT. The baseline updates are triggered by fingertip contact and movement detections. Further, we support unidirectional stretching sensing using a model-based approach which works separately with continuous contact sensing. We also provide a software toolkit for users to design and deploy personalized interfaces with customized sensors. Through a series of experiments and evaluations, we validate the performance of contact and stretching sensing. Through example applications, we show the variety of examples enabled by iSoft.
Two-dimensional conformation-dependent electrophoresis (2D-CDE) to separate DNA fragments containing unmatched bulge from complex DNA samples (2004)

DNA fragments containing mispaired and modified bases, bulges, lesions and specific sequences have altered conformation. Methods for separating complex samples of DNA fragments based on conformation but independent of length have many applications, including (i) separation of mismatched or unmatched DNA fragments from those perfectly matched; (ii) simultaneous, diagnostic, mismatch scanning of multiple fragments; (iii) isolation of damaged DNA fragments from undamaged fragments; and (iv) estimation of reannealing efficiency of complex DNA samples. We developed a two-dimensional conformation-dependent electrophoresis (2D-CDE) method for separating DNA fragments based on length and conformation in the first dimension and only on length in the second dimension. Differences in migration velocity due to conformation were minimized during second dimension electrophoresis by introducing an intercalator. To test the method, we constructed 298 bp DNA fragments containing cytosine bulges ranging from 1 to 5 nt. Bulge-containing DNA fragments had reduced migration velocity in the first dimension due to altered conformation. After 2D-CDE, bulge-containing DNA fragments had migrated in front of an arc comprising heterogeneous fragments with regular conformation. This simple and robust method could be used in both analytical and preparative applications involving complex DNA samples.
IPTV inter-destination synchronization: A network-based approach (2010)

This paper introduces a novel network-based approach to inter-destination media synchronization. The approach meets the need for synchronization in advanced TV concepts like social TV and offers high scalability, unlike conventional end-point based approaches. The solution for inter-destination media synchronization has been standardized in upcoming ETSI protocol standards for IPTV. This paper explains the inner workings of this standardized solution.
Increased Neutrophil Elastase and Proteinase 3 and Augmented NETosis Are Closely Associated With β-Cell Autoimmunity in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes (2014)

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease resulting from the self-destruction of insulin-producing β-cells. Reduced neutrophil counts have been observed in patients with T1D. However, the pathological roles of neutrophils in the development of T1D remain unknown. Here we show that circulating protein levels and enzymatic activities of neutrophil elastase (NE) and proteinase 3 (PR3), both of which are neutrophil serine proteases stored in neutrophil primary granules, were markedly elevated in patients with T1D, especially those with disease duration of less than 1 year. Furthermore, circulating NE and PR3 levels increased progressively with the increase of the positive numbers and titers of the autoantibodies against β-cell antigens. An obvious elevation of NE and PR3 was detected even in those autoantibody-negative patients. Increased NE and PR3 in T1D patients are closely associated with elevated formation of neutrophil extracellular traps. By contrast, the circulating levels of α1-antitrypsin, an endogenous inhibitor of neutrophil serine proteases, are decreased in T1D patients. These findings support an early role of neutrophil activation and augmented neutrophil serine proteases activities in the pathogenesis of β-cell autoimmunity and also suggest that circulating NE and PR3 may serve as sensitive biomarkers for the diagnosis of T1D.
Anti-CD1a CAR T cells to selectively target T-ALL (2019)

CRISPR/Cas deletion of aberrant splice sites has also recently been described for severe retinal dystrophy. The Xu et al article and the article by Maeder et al 2 demonstrate that this novel strategy may be close to clinical application, and again, this is great news for patients and their families.
Evaluating frequency and quality of pathogen-specific T cells (2016)

It is generally accepted that enumeration and characterization of antigen-specific T cells provide essential information about potency of the immune response. Here, we report a new technique to determine the frequency and potency of antigen-specific CD8 T cells. The assay measures changes of intracellular Ca<sup>2+</sup> in real time by fluorescent microscopy in individual CD8 T cells responding to cognate peptides. The T cells form continuous monolayer, enabling the cells to present the peptides to each other. This approach allows us to evaluate the kinetics of intracellular Ca<sup>2+</sup> signalling that characterizes the quality of T cell response. We demonstrate the usefulness of the assay examining the frequency and quality of cytomegalovirus-specific CD8 T cells from healthy donor and patient after haploidentical stem cell transplantation. The new assay has a potential to provide essential information determining the status of the immune system, disease morbidity, potency of therapeutic intervention and vaccine efficacy.
Robust real-time extraction of respiratory signals from PET list-mode data (2018)

Respiratory motion, which typically cannot simply be suspended during PET image acquisition, affects lesions' detection and quantitative accuracy inside or in close vicinity to the lungs. Some motion compensation techniques address this issue via pre-sorting ('binning') of the acquired PET data into a set of temporal gates, where each gate is assumed to be minimally affected by respiratory motion. Tracking respiratory motion is typically realized using dedicated hardware (e.g. using respiratory belts and digital cameras). Extracting respiratory signals directly from the acquired PET data simplifies the clinical workflow as it avoids handling additional signal measurement equipment. We introduce a new data-driven method 'combined local motion detection' (CLMD). It uses the time-of-flight (TOF) information provided by state-of-the-art PET scanners in order to enable real-time respiratory signal extraction without additional hardware resources. CLMD applies center-of-mass detection in overlapping regions based on simple back-positioned TOF event sets acquired in short time frames. Following a signal filtering and quality-based pre-selection step, the remaining extracted individual position information over time is then combined to generate a global respiratory signal. The method is evaluated using seven measured FDG studies from single and multiple scan positions of the thorax region, and it is compared to other software-based methods regarding quantitative accuracy and statistical noise stability. Correlation coefficients around 90% between the reference and the extracted signal have been found for those PET scans where motion affected features such as tumors or hot regions were present in the PET field-of-view. For PET scans with a quarter of typically applied radiotracer doses, the CLMD method still provides similar high correlation coefficients which indicates its robustness to noise. Each CLMD processing needed less than 0.4 s in total on a standard multi-core CPU and thus provides a robust and accurate approach enabling real-time processing capabilities using standard PC hardware.
Surface plasmon resonance sensor utilizing an integrated organic light emitting diode (2008)

A novel surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on an integrated planar and polychromatic light source is presented. The sensor comprises an organic light emitting diode (OLED) and a metallic sensing layer located on opposite sides of a glass prism. We successfully fabricated and tested prototype sensors based on this approach by the use of different prism geometries and OLEDs with blue, green and red emission color. We investigated the angular and wavelength dependent SPR dispersion relation for sensing layers consisting of silver and gold in contact with air. Further on we demonstrated the sensor function by real time monitoring of temperature changes inside an adjacent water reservoir as well as by recording the dissolving process of sodium chloride in water. The presented technique offers the advantage that there is no necessity to couple light from external bulky sources such as lasers or halogen lamps into the sensing device which makes it particularly interesting for miniaturization.
Kinetics of cooperative CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption in diamine-appended variants of the metal–organic framework Mg<sub>2</sub>(dobpdc) (2020)

Carbon capture and sequestration is a key element of global initiatives to minimize anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Although many investigations of new candidate CO<sub>2</sub> capture materials focus on equilibrium adsorption properties, it is also critical to consider adsorption/desorption kinetics when evaluating adsorbent performance. Diamine-appended variants of the metal-organic framework Mg<sub>2</sub>(dobpdc) (dobpdc<sup>4-</sup> = 4,4'-dioxidobiphenyl-3,3'-dicarboxylate) are promising materials for CO<sub>2</sub> capture because of their cooperative chemisorption mechanism and associated step-shaped equilibrium isotherms, which enable large working capacities to be accessed with small temperature swings. However, the adsorption/desorption kinetics of these unique materials remain understudied. More generally, despite the necessity of kinetics characterization to advance adsorbents toward commercial separations, detailed kinetic studies of metal-organic framework-based gas separations remain rare. Here, we systematically investigate the CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption kinetics of diamine-appended Mg<sub>2</sub>(dobpdc) variants using a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) assay. In particular, we examine the effects of diamine structure, temperature, and partial pressure on CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption and desorption kinetics. Importantly, most diamine-appended Mg<sub>2</sub>(dobpdc) variants exhibit an induction period prior to reaching the maximum rate of CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption, which we attribute to their unique cooperative chemisorption mechanism. In addition, these materials exhibit inverse Arrhenius behavior, displaying faster adsorption kinetics and shorter induction periods at lower temperatures. Using the Avrami model for nucleation and growth kinetics, we determine rate constants for CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption and quantitatively compare rate constants among different diamine-appended variants. Overall, these results provide guidelines for optimizing adsorbent design to facilitate CO<sub>2</sub> capture from diverse target streams and highlight kinetic phenomena relevant for other materials in which cooperative chemisorption mechanisms are operative.
Photothermal speckle modulation for noncontact materials characterization (2015)

We have developed a noncontact, photothermal materials characterization method based on visible-light speckle imaging. This technique is applied to remotely measure the infrared absorption spectra of materials and to discriminate materials based on their thermal conductivities. A wavelength-tunable (7.5-8.7 μm), intensity-modulated, quantum cascade pump laser and a continuous-wave 532 nm probe laser illuminate a sample surface such that the two laser spots overlap. Surface absorption of the intensity-modulated pump laser induces a time-varying thermoelastic surface deformation, resulting in a time-varying 532 nm scattering speckle field from the surface. The speckle modulation amplitude, derived from a series of visible camera images, is found to correlate with the amplitude of the surface motion. By tuning the pump laser's wavelength over a molecular absorption feature, the amplitude spectrum of the speckle modulation is found to correlate to the IR absorption spectrum. As an example, we demonstrate this technique for spectroscopic identification of thin polymeric films. Furthermore, by adjusting the rate of modulation of the pump beam and measuring the associated modulation transfer to the visible speckle pattern, information about the thermal time constants of surface and sub-surface features can be revealed. Using this approach, we demonstrate the ability to distinguish between different materials (including metals, semiconductors, and insulators) based on differences in their thermal conductivities.
Contour tracking over image sequences (2002)

An automatic contour tracking procedure is illustrated over sequences of X-ray and echo images. The entire procedure is based on two main steps: (i) a furrow of suitable width is obtained at the image luminance variations by filtering the images with a first order derivative filter and (ii) the "true" contour is obtained by dropping an approximate starting contour to the bottom of the furrow. Once the contour is determined on the first image it is used as starring contour to determine the contour on the subsequent image and so on. Therefore, when an approximate starting contour is given on the first image, every contour of the sequence is automatically outlined. As the gradient of Gaussian (GoG) provides a reduced output at two-dimensional discontinuities, a novel first order derivative filter is used to produce the furrow maps. The filter is obtained from the generalization of the first order absolute moment.
Efficient harmonic generation using an electroabsorption modulator (1995)

A multiple quantum-well electroabsorption modulator has been assessed as a harmonic generator of millimeter-wave signals for radio-over-fiber systems. It is shown experimentally that the steep nonlinear absorption characteristics of electroabsorption modulators lead to efficient generation of high order harmonics when driven by a sinusoidal voltage. Photocurrent harmonic power levels generated using electroabsorption and Mach-Zehnder modulators are compared with theory.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
Exploiting multicycle false paths in the performance optimization of sequential logic circuits (1995)

This paper addresses the performance optimization problem for sequential logic circuits. It is shown how the notion of false paths, traditionally defined for combinational logic circuits, can be extended to the sequential context by considering the operation of the circuit over multiple clock-cycles. These multicycle false paths can be removed from the circuit using techniques similar to those proposed for combinational logic circuits. This observation offers new techniques to improve the performance of sequential logic circuits. An implementation of an algorithm that uses these ideas shows significant performance improvement on some typical benchmark circuits at a modest area overhead.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
Three dimensional breast masses autodetection in cone beam breast CT (2009)

Cone Beam Breast CT (CBBCT) acquires 3D breast images without compression to the breast. More detailed and accurate information of breast lesions is revealed in CBBCT images. In our research, based on the observation that tumor masses are more concentrated than the surrounding tissues, we designed a weighted average filter and a threedimensional Iris filter to operate on the three-dimensional images. The basic process is: After weighted average filtering and iris filtering, a thresholding is applied to extract suspicious regions. Next, after morphological processing, suspicious regions are sorted based on their average Iris filter responses and the top 10 candidates are selected as detection results. The detection results are marked out and provided to radiologists as CAD system output. In our experiment, our method detects 12 mass locations out of 14 pathology-proven malignant clinical cases.
Bioluminescence regenerative cycle (BRC) system for nucleic acid quantification assays (2003)

A new label-free methodology for nucleic acid quantification has been developed where the number of pyrophosphate molecules (PPi) released during polymerization of the target nucleic acid is counted and correlated to DNA copy number. The technique uses the enzymatic complex of ATP-sulfurylase and firefly luciferase to generate photons from PPi. An enzymatic unity gain positive feedback is also implemented to regenerate the photon generation process and compensate any decay in light intensity by self regulation. Due to this positive feedback, the total number of photons generated by the bioluminescence regenerative cycle (BRC) can potentially be orders of magnitude higher than typical chemiluminescent processes. A system level kinetic model that incorporates the effects of contaminations and detector noise was used to show that the photon generation process is in fact steady and also proportional to the nucleic acid quantity. Here we show that BRC is capable of detecting quantities of DNA as low as 1 amol (10<sup>-18</sup> mole) in 40μlit aqueous solutions, and this enzymatic assay has a controllable dynamic range of 5 orders of magnitude. The sensitivity of this technology, due to the excess number of photons generated by the regenerative cycle, is not constrained by detector performance, but rather by possible PPi or ATP (adenosine triphosphate) contamination, or background bioluminescence of the enzymatic complex.
Development of Magnetic Amylose Beads for Biological Application (2007)

Magnetic beads were developed for the purpose of applying to biological use. The beads were composed of magnetite particles coated with amylose which showed the affinity bonding with maltose binding protein. The beads showed superior response to magnetic field based on the high magnetization and superior dispersability after the removal of magnetic field in the process of purifying a protein from biological samples. The beads showed five times greater efficiency in purification of protein than amylose resin beads currently on the market.