gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Optogenetic control of insulin secretion in intact pancreatic islets with β-cell-specific expression of Channelrhodopsin-2 (2014)

Insulin is secreted from the pancreatic β-cells in response to elevated glucose. In intact islets the capacity for insulin release is determined by a complex interplay between different cell types. This has made it difficult to specifically assess the role of β-cell defects to the insulin secretory impairment in type 2 diabetes. Here we describe a new approach, based on optogenetics, that enables specific investigation of β-cells in intact islets. We used transgenic mice expressing the light-sensitive cation channel Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) under control of the insulin promoter. Glucose tolerance in vivo was assessed using intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests, and glucose-induced insulin release was measured from static batch incubations. ChR2 localization was determined by fluorescence confocal microscopy. The effect of ChR2 stimulation with blue LED light was assessed using Ca(2+) imaging and static islet incubations. Light stimulation of islets from transgenic ChR2 mice triggered prompt increases in intracellular Ca(2+). Moreover, light stimulation enhanced insulin secretion in batch-incubated islets at low and intermediate but not at high glucose concentrations. Glucagon release was not affected. Beta-cells from mice rendered diabetic on a high-fat diet exhibited a 3.5-fold increase in light-induced Ca(2+) influx compared with mice on a control diet. Furthermore, light enhanced insulin release also at high glucose in these mice, suggesting that high-fat feeding leads to a compensatory potentiation of the Ca(2+) response in β-cells. The results demonstrate the usefulness and versatility of optogenetics for studying mechanisms of perturbed hormone secretion in diabetes with high time-resolution and cell-specificity.
Comparison of single-ended-parallel MRC and forward MRC (2003)

The forward zero voltage switched (ZVS) multiresonant power converter (MRC) and the class-E derived single ended parallel (SEP) MRC are compared on the basis of their relative current and voltage stresses, and efficiency for 50 W on-board power applications. The comparison is performed using SABER large-signal simulations with experimental verification of the results. It is found that the forward ZVS-MRC operates with lower current and voltage stresses under full load conditions, whereas the SEP-MRC operates with lower current and voltage stresses under light load conditions. As a result, the full-load efficiency of the forward ZVS-MRC is higher than that of the SEP-MRC, but the efficiency of the SEP-MRC is less dependent on load variations.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
Holey Tungsten Oxynitride Nanowires: Novel Anodes Efficiently Integrate Microbial Chemical Energy Conversion and Electrochemical Energy Storage (2015)

Holey tungsten oxynitride nanowires with superior conductivity, good biocompatibility, and good stability achieve excellent performance as anodes for both asymmetric supercapacitors and microbial fuel cells. Moreover, an innovative system is devised based on these as-prepared tungsten oxynitride anodes, which can simultaneously realize both energy conversion from chemical to electric energy and its storage.
A UDP-Glucose:Monoterpenol Glucosyltransferase Adds to the Chemical Diversity of the Grapevine Metabolome (2014)

Terpenoids represent one of the major classes of natural products and serve different biological functions. In grape (Vitis vinifera), a large fraction of these compounds is present as nonvolatile terpene glycosides. We have extracted putative glycosyltransferase (GT) sequences from the grape genome database that show similarity to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) GTs whose encoded proteins glucosylate a diversity of terpenes. Spatial and temporal expression levels of the potential VvGT genes were determined in five different grapevine varieties. Heterologous expression and biochemical assays of candidate genes led to the identification of a UDP-glucose:monoterpenol β-d-glucosyltransferase (VvGT7). The VvGT7 gene was expressed in various tissues in accordance with monoterpenyl glucoside accumulation in grape cultivars. Twelve allelic VvGT7 genes were isolated from five cultivars, and their encoded proteins were biochemically analyzed. They varied in substrate preference and catalytic activity. Three amino acids, which corresponded to none of the determinants previously identified for other plant GTs, were found to be important for enzymatic catalysis. Site-specific mutagenesis along with the analysis of allelic proteins also revealed amino acids that impact catalytic activity and substrate tolerance. These results demonstrate that VvGT7 may contribute to the production of geranyl and neryl glucoside during grape ripening.
A novel multilayer super-compact inharmonic photonic band-gap (PBG) structure for microstrip applications (2002)

A novel two-layer biperiodic PBG microstrip structure, characterized by periods in an inharmonic ratio and by the use of highly reactive elements (printed inductors/capacitors), is proposed. The inharmonicity of the periods (a and 2a/3) ratio gives rise to a resulting configuration of larger period (2a) which, in conjunction with the loading effect of the reactive elements, leads to an extremely low cutoff frequency and makes therefore the structure super-compact. Moreover, the existence of three different effective periods, each controlling a different frequency range, yields a huge photonic band-gap. Two different configurations of this novel PBG, including inductor and capacitor elements in the intermediate PBG plate, respectively, are presented. It is shown from simulation and measurement results that these structures exhibit a low-pass filter behavior with a cut-off frequency corresponding to a/spl ap//spl lambda//8 and a gap of width exceeding 150% with excellent transmission in the pass-band.
Telomeres inhibit end to end fusion and enhance maintenance of linear DNA molecules injected into the<i>Paramecium primaurelia</i>macronucleus (1991)

Direct injection into the macronucleus of Paramecium tetraurelia of DNA molecules coding for the A-antigen leads to expression of the gene and autonomous replication. When injected into Paramecium primaurelia DNA from probably any origin, procaryote or eucaryote, can replicate as linear telomerized molecules and the number of copies maintained can be very high (up to 20000 copies). We present here evidence that if the injected linear DNA molecules harbour preexisting telomeres at both extremities they are protected from degradation, the number of DNA molecules maintained being 15- to 30-fold higher than if the molecules are injected without telomeres. Some of the injected molecules replicate as multimers, but, only when the fused ends are devoid of preexisting telomeric repeats.
Reducing International Roaming Call Costs with Multiple Mobile Phone Numbers (2008)

In the existing commercial mobile operation, call setup to an international roaming subscriber is indirectly routed through the home network of the subscriber, which results in the usage of two expensive international telephone trunks. Through multiple mobile phone number assignment, this letter proposes a novel approach that eliminates the non-necessarily international trunk usage, and effectively reduces the network costs for international roaming calls.
Effects of Size and Surface Charge of Polymeric Nanoparticles on &lt;i&gt;in Vitro&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;in Vivo&lt;/i&gt; Applications (2016)

Biodegradable polymeric materials are the most common carriers for use in drug delivery systems. With this trend, newer drug delivery systems using targeted and controlled release polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) are being developed to manipulate their navigation in complex in vivo environment. However, a clear understanding of the interactions between biological systems and these nanoparticulates is still unexplored. Different studies have been performed to correlate the physicochemical properties of polymeric NPs with the biological responses. Size and surface charge are the two fundamental physicochemical properties that provide a key direction to design an effective NP formulation. In this critical review, our goal is to provide a brief overview on the influences of size and surface charge of different polymeric NPs in vitro and to highlight the challenges involved with in vivo trials.
Regulation of prostate-specific antigen expression (1997)

textabstractSteroid hormones are widely distributed, cholesterol-derived, small hydrophobic molecules.\nThey mediate a variety of biological functions, including tissue development, differentiation\nand homeostasis. Mammalian steroid hormones (androgens, glucocorticoids,\nmineralocorticoids, estrogens and progestins) exert their function by binding to the\ncorresponding intracellular steroid hormone receptor. This binding triggers a complex set of\nmolecular events, including protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions.
Recurrent Neural Network Based Small-footprint Wake-up-word Speech Recognition System with a Score Calibration Method (2018)

In this paper, we propose a small-footprint wake-up-word speech recognition (WUWSR) system based on long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network, and we design a novel back-end calibration scoring method named modified zero normalization (MZN). First, LSTM is trained to predict posterior probability of context-dependent state. Next, MZN is adopted to transfer posterior probability to normalized score, which is then converted to confidence score by dynamic programming. Finally, a certain wake-up-word is recognized according to the confidence score. This WUWSR system can recognize multiple wake-up words and change wake-up words flexibly. This system can guarantee low latency by omitting decoding network. Equal error rate (EER) is adopted as the evaluation metric. Experimental results show that the proposed LSTM-based system achieves 33.33% relative improvement compared with a baseline system based on deep feed-forward neural network. Combining the front-end LSTM acoustic model with back-end MZN method, our WUWSR system can achieve 51.92% relative improvement.
Genome Diversity of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Isolates from Cystic Fibrosis Patients and the Hospital Environment (2004)

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative rod that is ubiquitous in nature. P. aeruginosa is also the quintessential opportunistic pathogen, causing a wide variety of infections in compromised hosts. In cystic fibrosis patients, P. aeruginosa is the leading cause of death. In this study, the evolutionary genetic relationships among 17 P. aeruginosa isolates were examined by comparative sequence analysis of the housekeeping gene encoding malate dehydrogenase and the chaperone groEL. The P. aeruginosa isolates examined included the sequenced strain PAO1, 11 strains recovered from cystic fibrosis patients in Ireland, 4 environmental isolates recovered from a hospital environment, and 1 isolate recovered from a plant rhizosphere. Phylogenetically, clinical and environmental isolates clustered together with one another on the mdh gene tree. At the groEL locus, among the 17 isolates examined, only two polymorphic sites were observed, highlighting the close genetic relationship between isolates from these different environments. Phenotypic analysis of 12 traits among our isolates, however, found that only clinical isolates produced phenazines and elastase. Furthermore, molecular analysis of the distribution of 15 regions associated with virulence showed that two of the environmental isolates examined lacked the majority of regions. Among the clinical isolates examined, the 15 virulence regions were variably present. The distribution of two prophages (Bacto1, Pf1) was also determined, with most isolates encoding both these regions. Of the four genomic islands (the flagellum island and PAGI-1, -2, and -3) examined, only two isolates contained the flagellum island, and PAGI-1, -2, and -3 were absent from all isolates tested. Our data demonstrate the significant role horizontal gene transfer and recombination, together with gene loss, play in the evolution of this important human pathogen.
<i>N</i>‐Nitrosamines in snuff and chewing tobacco on the Swedish market in 1983 (1984)

Snuff and chewing tobacco on the Swedish market in 1983 were analysed for tobacco-specific and volatile N-nitrosamines using gas chromatography--thermal energy analysis. All 36 samples of snuff analysed were found to contain detectable levels of N'-nitrosonornicotine, N'-nitrosoanatabine, N'-nitrosoanabasine and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone. Total tobacco-specific N-nitrosamine levels between 2.5 and 51 mg/kg wet weight were found, the mean level being 8.8 mg/kg. Detectable levels of at least two of the four tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines were found in all 18 samples of chewing tobacco analysed. The total concentration of tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines found in chewing tobacco was between 0.1 and 7.8 mg/kg, the mean level being 2.1 mg/kg. The levels of volatile N-nitrosamines found in the 54 samples of snuff and chewing tobacco were very much lower--most of the samples contained less than 10 micrograms/kg and the highest concentration found was 550 micrograms/kg. Since snuff and chewing tobacco contain relatively high levels of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines and there is evidence of an association between the use of these tobacco products and human cancer, snuff and chewing tobacco users should be warned about the possible cancer risk involved in their habit. In addition, efforts should be made to reduce the levels of N-nitrosamines in snuff and chewing tobacco and the formation of these substances in the body from precursors originating from these tobacco products.
Apoptolysis: a novel mechanism of skin blistering in pemphigus vulgaris linking the apoptotic pathways to basal cell shrinkage and suprabasal acantholysis (2009)

Understanding the acantholytic pathways leading to blistering in pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a key to development of novel treatments. A novel paradigm of keratinocyte damage in PV, termed apoptolysis, links the suprabasal acantholytic and cell death pathways to basal cell shrinkage rendering a 'tombstone' appearance to PV lesions. In contrast to apoptolysis, the classic keratinocyte apoptosis mediating toxic epidermal necrolysis causes death and subsequent sloughing of the entire epidermis. Apoptolysis includes five consecutive steps. (1) Binding of autoantibodies to PV antigens. (2) Activation of EGF receptor, Src, mTOR, p38 MAPK and other signalling elements downstream of ligated antigens, elevation of intracellular calcium and launching of the cell death cascades. (3) Basal cell shrinkage due to: (i) collapse and retraction of the tonofilaments cleaved by executioner caspases; and (ii) dissociation of interdesmosomal adhesion complexes caused by phosphorylation of adhesion molecules. (4) Massive cleavage of cellular proteins by activated cell death enzymes leading to cell collapse, and tearing off desmosomes from the cell membrane stimulating secondary autoantibody production. (5) Rounding up and death of acantholytic cells. Thus, the structural damage (acantholysis) and death (apoptosis) of keratinocytes are mediated by the same cell death enzymes. Appreciation of the unifying concept of apoptolysis have several important implications: (i) linking together a number of seemingly unrelated events surrounding acantholysis; (ii) opening new avenues of investigation into the pathomechanism of pemphigus; and (iii) creating new approaches to the treatment of pemphigus based on blocking the signalling pathways and enzymatic processes that lead to blistering.
Spinal 2-Chloroprocaine: The Effect of Added Dextrose (2004)

Spinal chloroprocaine provides adequate potency with reliable regression, seemingly without concerns of transient neurologic symptoms, and hence an appealing profile for outpatient surgery. The addition of dextrose does not alter peak block height or tolerance of thigh tourniquet, and increases the degree of residual bladder dysfunction.
Dynamics of contact line motion during the wetting of rough surfaces and correlation with topographical surface parameters (2011)

Dynamics of contact line motion and wettability is essential in many industrial applications such as liquid coating, lubrication, printing, painting, condensation, etc. However, the wettability of surfaces depends not only on liquid-solid chemical properties but also can be strongly affected by surface roughness. As a practical application of controlled wettability, we can mention the self-cleaning surfaces, protective clothing, microfluidics devices, electro wetting, etc. In this article, we experimentally investigate the spreading of droplets deposited onto rough surfaces. Anisotropic surfaces were prepared by abrasive polishing on the following materials: aluminium alloy AA7064, titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V, steel AISI 8630, copper alloy UNS C17000, machinable glass ceramic, and poly-methylmethacrylate. Topographical 2D parameters were calculated according to the following standards, defining Geometrical Product Specifications (GPS): ISO 4287, ISO 12085, ISO 13565, ISO 12780, and ISO 12181. The influence of topographical parameters on wettability and spreading phenomenon has been evaluated by statistical covariance analysis. The following parameters have strong influence on fluid spreading on rough surfaces: R(mr) is the relative material ratio of the roughness profile, T(rc) is the microgeometric material ratio, P(mr) is the relative material ratio of the raw profile, K(r) is the mean slope of the roughness motifs, RON(t) is the peak to valley roundness deviation, and P(sk) is the Skewness of the raw profile. The physical meaning of selected parameters is discussed, and K(r) (the mean slope of the roughness motifs) is selected as the most important and physically meaningful parameter. It has been found that for all tested materials, fluid spreading shows increasing tendency when mean slope of the roughness motifs (K(r) ) increases.
Perfect selective metamaterial solar absorbers (2013)

In this work, we numerically investigate the radiative properties of metamaterial nanostructures made of two-dimensional tungsten gratings on a thin dielectric spacer and an opaque tungsten film from UV to mid-infrared region as potential selective solar absorbers. The metamaterial absorber with single-sized tungsten patches exhibits high absorptance in the visible and near-infrared region due to several mechanisms such as surface plasmon polaritons, magnetic polaritons, and intrinsic bandgap absorption of tungsten. Geometric effects on the resonance wavelengths and the absorptance spectra are studied, and the physical mechanisms are elucidated in detail. The absorptance could be further enhanced in a broader spectral range with double-sized metamaterial absorbers. The total solar absorptance of the optimized metamaterial absorbers at normal incidence could be more than 88%, while the total emittance is less than 3% at 100°C, resulting in total photon-to-heat conversion efficiency of 86% without any optical concentration. Moreover, the metamaterial solar absorbers exhibit quasi-diffuse behaviors as well as polarization independence. The results here will facilitate the design of novel highly efficient solar absorbers to enhance the performance of various solar energy conversion systems.
Dynamic modeling of doubly fed induction generator wind turbines (2003)

It is now recognized that many large wind farms will employ doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) variable speed wind turbines. A number of such wind farms are already in operation and more are planned or under construction. With the rising penetration of wind power into electricity networks, increasingly comprehensive studies are required to identify the interaction between the wind farm(s) and the power system. These require accurate models of doubly fed induction generator wind turbines and their associated control and protection circuits. A dynamic model has been derived, which can be used to simulate the DFIG wind turbine using a single-cage and double-cage representation of the generator rotor, as well as a representation of its control and protection circuits. The model is suitable for use in transient stability programs that can be used to investigate large power systems. The behavior of a wind farm and the network under various system disturbances was studied using this dynamic model. The influence of the DFIG control on the stability of the wind farm was also investigated by considering different control gains and by applying network voltage control through both stator side and rotor side converters.
Process margins for pulsed laser-induced via filling (1990)

Process margins have been experimentally determined for pulsed laser-induced filling of Au-coated square vias of varying size (2–15 μm side lengths) and aspect ratio using either a flashlamp-pumped dye laser (λ=490 nm, FWHM pulse duration=600 ns) or an excimer laser (Xe*Cl, λ=308 nm, FWHM pulse duration=35 ns). For 2.0-μm-thick Au coatings, either laser provided comparable process margins (up to ±14%) for the same via diameter. For 3.8-μm-thick coatings, the flashlamp-pumped dye laser exhibited process margins (up to ±21%) nearly twice that of the excimer laser (±12% maximum). Near the damage threshold fluence, excimer laser-induced film damage was localized near irradiated spot edges (the regions of highest intensity gradient), suggesting evaporative recoil effects due to the high peak intensity of this laser. In contrast, the longer, less intense pulse generated by the flashlamp-pumped dye laser did not give rise to these localized effects, instead producing film damage in the regions of highest incident intensity (the damage mechanism has not been identified). Frozen-in capillary waves, produced during the laser-induced flow of the molten metal, are shown to yield information about the metal’s melt duration while suggesting a method for constructing an in-situ process monitor.
A Field-Portable, Fiber-Optic Based Near-Infrared Spectrometer and its Applications to Fuels Analysis (1991)

A fiber-optic spectrometer for measurement in the short wavelength near-infrared (SW-NIR) region (700-1100 nm) is presented. Slightly larger than a briefcase and weighing 23 lbs., the instrument is controlled by a 12 MHz laptop computer. The optical scheme uses a concave holographic grating for wavelength dispersion, and a thermoelectrically temperature-stabilized 1024-element silicon photodiode array for detection. A computer-controlled 5.5 watt tungsten lamp, with optical feedback, is the light source. The spectral signal is digitized at a data rate of 22 Khz to 16 bits resolution. Sample measurements are made in either transmission or transflectance mode, using fiber-optic bundles as light pipes. The spectrometer has a resolution of 3 nm, stray light intensity level of 0.05%, baseline noise level of 25.5 micro-absorbance units, and dynamic range of 3 orders of magnitude. The spectrometer performance is evaluated in 2 application studies. First, NIR spectroscopy is developed as a rapid method for simultaneous estimation of the freezing point and volume percentages of aromatics and saturates in JP-4 jet aviation fuel. Both multiple linear regression and partial least squares analysis methods are used to predict these physical parameters, NIR spectral analysis predictions are within published ASTM reproducibility criteria. Second, quantitative analysis of xylene mixtures is presented. Classical least squares, multiple linear regression and partial least squares analysis techniques are used to predict the volume percent of ortho-, meta-, and para-xylene in a series of xylene mixtures.