gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
α1-Antitrypsin Protects β-Cells From Apoptosis (2007)

Beta-cell apoptosis appears to represent a key event in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. Previous studies have demonstrated that administration of the serine proteinase inhibitor alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) prevents type 1 diabetes development in NOD mice and prolongs islet allograft survival in rodents; yet the mechanisms underlying this therapeutic benefit remain largely unclear. Herein we describe novel findings indicating that AAT significantly reduces cytokine- and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced beta-cell apoptosis. Specifically, strong antiapoptotic activities for AAT (Prolastin, human) were observed when murine insulinoma cells (MIN6) were exposed to tumor necrosis factor-alpha. In a second model system involving STZ-induced beta-cell apoptosis, treatment of MIN6 cells with AAT similarly induced a significant increase in cellular viability and a reduction in apoptosis. Importantly, in both model systems, treatment with AAT completely abolished induced caspase-3 activity. In terms of its activities in vivo, treatment of C57BL/6 mice with AAT prevented STZ-induced diabetes and, in agreement with the in vitro analyses, supported the concept of a mechanism involving the disruption of beta-cell apoptosis. These results propose a novel biological function for this molecule and suggest it may represent an effective candidate for attempts seeking to prevent or reverse type 1 diabetes.
Prediction And Manipulation Of Drop Size Distribution Of Emulsions Using Population Balance Equation Models For High-Pressure Homogenization (2022)

Emulsions constitute a wide range of natural as well as processed products. Pharmaceutical applications of emulsions include oral administration, parenteral delivery, ophthalmic medicine, topical and transdermal creams, and fluorocarbon-in-water emulsions for blood oxygenation. In the foods area many of the products like mayonnaise, margarine, ice-creams are emulsions by nature and some products can also be used for delivery of active ingredients (e.g. nutraceuticals) with potential health benefits. Emulsions are also encountered at many stages of petroleum recovery, transportation, and processing. Typically, emulsions are manufactured in a two-step process. First a coarse emulsion called a premix is made which is passed through a high-pressure homogenizer. Intense energy supplied in the high pressure homogenizer causes breakage of the coarse emulsion to a fine one with a tighter distribution. Population balance equation (PBE) models are useful for emulsions since they allow prediction of the evolution of the drop size distribution on specification of the two rate processes i.e., breakage of drops due to the flow field and coalescence of colliding drops. In our work, we developed a PBE model to describe emulsion breakage in a high pressure homogenizer. The focus of the work was breakage and conditions to keep coalescence to minimum were implemented. Two breakage rates representing two mechanisms i.e., turbulent inertial and turbulent viscous breakage were necessary for reproducing the bimodal nature of the distributions. We used mechanistic functions in the PBE model to develop a predictive model which could be extended to changes in formulation variables as well as process variables. Starting with the assumption of binary breakage, the model was refined to include multiple drop breakage. The developed model was found to be extensible to reasonable changes in oil concentration, surfactant concentration, continuous phase viscosity and constant ratio of oil to surfactant. Anomalies in pressure prediction encountered earlier were also corrected for by including some additional features like heating, maximum stable diameter, and number of daughter drops. A preliminary attempt was also made to use the developed model for designing experiments for making target emulsions with pre-specified properties.
Bulk Properties of Powders (2015)

Abstract This article describes the methods for determining the flow rate of metal powders. It examines the factors affecting flow rate, apparent density, and angle of repose of metal powders. The article reviews the frictional properties, cohesive strength, frictional properties, tap density, and compressibility of metal powders. It explains the mechanisms of powder segregation. The article provides information on green strength and springback value of rectangular test bar. It concludes with a discussion on the chemical composition of metal powders.
Detection of knee instability using accelerometers experimental test and potential use in the control of FES-assisted parplegic standing (1993)

We propose a knee instability detector for standing using two uni-axial accelerometers, tangentially placed on the upper leg. This detector may be used as a part of the finite state artificial reflex control strategy for paraplegic standing with minimal quadriceps stimulation, as proposed by Mulder et al. [l - 21. The detection strategy was experimentally tested in two healthy subjects. Detection on the basis of accelerometer data appeared to be faster than with knee goniometer data. Furthermore, accelerometers may be preferable because they are small and do not cross the knee joint, like in the case of conventional goniometers.
A Mechanism-Based Combination Therapy Reduces Local Tumor Growth and Metastasis in an Orthotopic Model of Prostate Cancer (2006)

Therapy-induced stimulation of angiogenic molecules can promote tumor angiogenesis leading to enhanced tumor growth and cancer metastasis. Several standard and emerging therapies, such as radiation and photodynamic therapy (PDT), can induce angiogenic molecules, thus limiting their effectiveness. PDT is approved for the treatment of several cancers; however, its induction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) creates conditions favorable to enhanced tumor growth and metastasis, therefore mitigating its cytotoxic and antivascular effects. This is the first report showing that subcurative PDT in an orthotopic model of prostate cancer (LNCaP) increases not only VEGF secretion (2.1-fold) but also the fraction of animals with lymph node metastases. PDT followed by administration of an antiangiogenic agent, TNP-470, abolished this increase and reduced local tumor growth. On the other hand, administration of TNP-470 before PDT was less effective at local tumor control. In addition, animals in all groups, except in the PDT + TNP-470 group, had a weight loss of >3 g at the time of sacrifice; the weight of the animals in the PDT + TNP-470 group did not change. The significant reduction (P < 0.05) in tumor weight and volume observed between the PDT + TNP-470 group and the control group suggests that the combination of PDT and antiangiogenic treatment administered in the appropriate sequence was not only more effective at controlling local tumor growth and metastases but also reduced disease-related toxicities. Such molecular response-based combinations merit further investigations as they enhance both monotherapies and lead to improved treatment outcomes.
The universal-relation data model for logical independence (1988)

The universal-relation model is introduced, and its fundamental ideas are outlined. This model keeps access-path independence by removing the need for logical navigation among relations. One benefit is a simple yet powerful query-language interface. Two universal-relation database-management systems are discussed that provide good examples of the model: System/U, developed at Stanford University, and FIDL, developed at International Computers Ltd. in Britain.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
A supporting role (2003)

THE INTEGRATED case management in primary and community team (IMPACT) project was established in the Mersey-side area in 2000 to help empower people living with long-term medical conditions, such as coronary heart disease and chronic airways disease. The project's objectives were to improve their quality of life and to reduce GP contacts, hospital admissions and pharmacy costs.
Modulation of intercellular calcium signaling by melatonin in avian and mammalian astrocytes is brain region-specific (2005)

Calcium waves among glial cells impact many central nervous system functions, including neural integration and brain metabolism. Here, we characterized the modulatory effects of melatonin, a pineal neurohormone that mediates circadian and seasonal processes, on glial calcium waves derived from different brain regions and species. Diencephalic and telencephalic astrocytes, from both chick and mouse brains, expressed melatonin receptor proteins. Further, using the calcium-sensitive dye Fluo-4, we conducted real-time imaging analyses of calcium waves propagated among mammalian and avian astrocytes. Mouse diencephalic astrocytic calcium waves spread to an area 2-5-fold larger than waves among avian astrocytes and application of 10 nM melatonin caused a 32% increase in the spread of these mammalian calcium waves, similar to the 23% increase observed in chick diencephalic astrocytes. In contrast, melatonin had no effect on calcium waves in either avian or mammalian telencephalic astrocytes. Mouse telencephalic calcium waves radially spread from their initiation site among untreated astrocytes. However, waves meandered among mouse diencephalic astrocytes, taking heterogeneous paths at variable rates of propagation. Brain regional differences in wave propagation were abolished by melatonin, as diencephalic astrocytes acquired more telencephalon-like wave characteristics. Astrocytes cultured from different brain regions, therefore, possess fundamentally disparate mechanisms of calcium wave propagation and responses to melatonin. These results suggest multiple roles for melatonin receptors in the regulation of astroglial function, impacting specific brain regions differentially.
Task-Oriented Query Reformulation with Reinforcement Learning (2017)

Search engines play an important role in our everyday lives by assisting us in finding the information we need. When we input a complex query, however, results are often far from satisfactory. In this work, we introduce a query reformulation system based on a neural network that rewrites a query to maximize the number of relevant documents returned. We train this neural network with reinforcement learning. The actions correspond to selecting terms to build a reformulated query, and the reward is the document recall. We evaluate our approach on three datasets against strong baselines and show a relative improvement of 5-20% in terms of recall. Furthermore, we present a simple method to estimate a conservative upper-bound performance of a model in a particular environment and verify that there is still large room for improvements.
Ultrathin MoS<sub>2(1–<i>x</i>)</sub>Se<sub>2<i>x</i></sub> Alloy Nanoflakes For Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (2015)

The development of non precious metal based electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) holds a decisive key to a spectrum of energy conversion technologies. Previous studies have established layered molybdenum chalcogenides as promising candidates. In this work, we prepared ultrathin MoS2(1–x)Se2x alloy nanoflakes with monolayer or few-layer thickness and fully tunable chemical composition for maximum HER activity. Spectroscopic characterizations corroborate the progressive evolution of their structures and properties as x increases from 0 to 1 without any noticeable phase separation. In particular, it is evidenced that the introduction of selenium continuously modulates the d band electronic structure of molybdenum, probably leading to tuned hydrogen adsorption free energy and consequently electrocatalytic activity. Electrochemical measurements show that all MoS2(1–x)Se2x nanoflakes are highly active and durable for HER with small overpotentials in the range of 80–100 mV and negligible activity loss up to 10000 cycles. Most importantly, alloyed nanoflakes, especially with the chemical composition of MoSSe, exhibit improved performance in comparison to either MoS2 or MoSe2. Given their overall similar nanoflake morphologies, we believe such improvements reflect the higher intrinsic activity of alloyed catalysts with the hydrogen adsorption free energy closer to thermoneutral.
Statistical parameter estimation for a cellular automata wildfire model based on satellite observations (2010)

The importance of understanding the impact of wildfires on natural ecosystems has given rise to the development of realistic computer models for the simulation of wildfires. Stochastic models based on simplified equations and local interactions, such as Cellular Automata (CA) models, are particularly popular as an alternative to more computationally demanding deterministic models. However, the challenges associated with observing wildfires under natural conditions, and the highly non-linear nature of fire spread makes it extremely difficult to parameterize them. In this work we present a method for adjusting the behaviour of one such CA model from the statistical analysis of satellite data of more than 750,000 African wildfires detected in 2003. Statistical metrics are developed to characterize agreement between model and satellite observations. The average probability of fire transmission amongst cells and the spatial scale of the model are adjusted so that maximum agreement is found between model output and the observed extension and statistical distribution of the real fires. While the results obtained are only valid for the particular CA model used and within the geographical limits of the region studied, we believe the process could be adapted to fine-tune and validate other CA models in regions where enough fire observations are available.
A stochastic quantum program synthesis framework based on Bayesian optimization (2021)

Quantum computers and algorithms can offer exponential performance improvement over some NP-complete programs which cannot be run efficiently through a Von Neumann computing approach. In this paper, we present BayeSyn, which utilizes an enhanced stochastic program synthesis and Bayesian optimization to automatically generate quantum programs from high-level languages subject to certain constraints. We find that stochastic synthesis can comparatively and efficiently generate a program with a lower cost from the high dimensional program space. We also realize that hyperparameters used in stochastic synthesis play a significant role in determining the optimal program. Therefore, BayeSyn utilizes Bayesian optimization to fine-tune such parameters to generate a suitable quantum program.
Generation of Antigen-Specific, LacZ-Inducible T-Cell Hybrids (2003)

The recognition of a peptide-bound major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule on the surface of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) is the central event in T-cell activation. The enormous complexity of the peptide pool displayed by MHC molecules makes it virtually impossible to detect physically the presence of a given peptide-MHC complex on the APC surface. Yet, T-cells have evolved to carry out precisely this function with an extraordinary efficiency, i.e., the detection of rare peptide-MHC complexes among the multitude of other peptides presented by the MHC molecules on the APC surface. Therefore, all practical assays for detecting the expression of a particular peptide-MHC complex depend on the measurement of some aspect of the T-cell response that is specifically initiated when the T-cell receptor (TCR) and its CD4 or CD8 coreceptor is engaged by the appropriate peptide-MHC complex.
Lithium‐Sulfur Batteries: Functionalized Boron Nitride Nanosheets/Graphene Interlayer for Fast and Long‐Life Lithium–Sulfur Batteries (Adv. Energy Mater. 13/2017) (2017)

In article number 1602380, Weiwei Lei, Ying Chen, and co-workers design a thin and selective interlayer structure of functionalized boron nitride nanosheets/graphene to decrease the charge transfer resistance and mitigate the shuttling problem of lithium sulfur batteries. The new and advanced interlayer can effectively entrap the polysulfide (PS) and exhibit ultrahigh cycling abilities as compared to batteries without the interlayer.
RESTful web services for service provisioning in next-generation networks: a survey (2011)

Next-generation networks, as envisioned by ITU-T, are packet-based networks, capable of provisioning consistent and ubiquitous services to end users independent of the network, access technology, and devices used. RESTful web services are now being contemplated as a technology for service provisioning in NGNs. They are emerging as an alternative, which may be more adequate than SOAP-based web services in some cases. SOAP-based web services are modular applications that can be discovered and invoked over a network. RESTful web services, on the other hand, are defined as a network architectural style for distributed hypermedia systems. This article presents a survey on RESTful web services for service provisioning in NGNs. It introduces the concept of RESTful web services and reviews the state of the art of RESTful-based service provisioning in NGNs. It also provides an evaluation of the overall suitability of RESTful web services for service provisioning in NGNs, and discusses research directions. RESTful web services do show significant potential for service provisioning in NGNs. However, open issues such as publication/discovery and mechanisms for the development of complex session-based services need to be solved before its full potential can be realized.
Intensity-Modulated Continuous-Wave Lidar at 1.57 Micrometer for Atmospheric CO2 Measurements (2014)

Understanding the earth's carbon cycle is essential for diagnosing current and predicting future climates, which requires precise global measurements of atmospheric CO2 through space missions. The Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons (ASCENDS) space mission will provide accurate global atmospheric CO2 measurements to meet carbon science requirements. The joint team of NASA Langley Research Center and ITT Exelis, Inc proposes to use the intensity-modulated, continuous-wave (IM-CW) lidar approach for the ASCENDS mission. Prototype instruments have been developed and used to demonstrate the power, signal-to-noise ratio, precision and accuracy, spectral purity, and stability of the measurement and the instrument needed for atmospheric CO2 observations from space. The ranging capability from laser platform to ground surfaces or intermediate backscatter layers is achieved by transmitted range-encoded IM laser signals. Based on the prototype instruments and current lidar technologies, space lidar systems and their CO2 column measurements are analyzed. These studies exhibit a great potential of using IM-CW lidar system for the active space CO2 mission ASCENDS.
Das ovarielle Überstimulationssyndrom (OHSS) (2011)

Das ovarielle Überstimulationssyndrom (OHSS) ist eine relativ häufige Komplikation bei der künstlichen Befruchtung bzw. bei einer ovariellen Stimulationsbehandlung. Es wird über die Pathophysiologie berichtet, die durch eine erhöhte Gefäßpermeabilität mit einer Flüssigkeitsverschiebung in den extravasalen Raum bedingt ist, vermutlich getriggert durch den vaskulären endothelialen Wachstumsfaktor (VEGF). Junge Frauen mit hyperandrogenämischen Zyklusstörungen und polyzystischem Ovarsyndrom (PCOS) haben ein erhöhtes Risiko und eine Ovulationsinduktion mit HCG (humanem Choriongonadotropin) sollte vermieden werden. Erscheinungsbild, Präventionsmaßnahmen und Therapie werden mit dem Ziel erläutert, die Komplikationsrate niedrig und die Schwangerschaftsrate so hoch wie möglich zu halten.
Smart MoS<sub>2</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> Nanotheranostic for Magnetically Targeted Photothermal Therapy Guided by Magnetic Resonance/Photoacoustic Imaging (2015)

The ability to selectively destroy cancer cells while sparing normal tissue is highly desirable during the cancer therapy. Here, magnetic targeted photothermal therapy was demonstrated by the integration of MoS2 (MS) flakes and Fe3O4 (IO) nanoparticles (NPs), where MoS2 converted near-infrared (NIR) light into heat and Fe3O4 NPs served as target moiety directed by external magnetic field to tumor site. The MoS2/Fe3O4 composite (MSIOs) functionalized by biocompatible polyethylene glycol (PEG) were prepared by a simple two-step hydrothermal method. And the as-obtained MSIOs exhibit high stability in bio-fluids and low toxicity in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, the MSIOs can be applied as a dual-modal probe for T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) and photoacoustic tomography (PAT) imaging due to their superparamagnetic property and strong NIR absorption. Furthermore, we demonstrate an effective result for magnetically targeted photothermal ablation of cancer. All these results show a great potential for localized photothermal ablation of cancer spatially/timely guided by the magnetic field and indicated the promise of the multifunctional MSIOs for applications in cancer theranostics.
Prefix sums and their applications (2018)

Abstract: "Experienced algorithm designers rely heavily on a set of building blocks and on the tools needed to put the blocks together into an algorithm. The understanding of these basic blocks and tools is therefore critical to the understanding of algorithms. Many of the blocks and tools needed for parallel algorithms extend from sequential algorithms, such as dynamic-programming and divide-and-conquer, but others are new. This paper introduces one of the simplest and most useful building blocks for parallel algorithms: the all-prefix-sums operation. The paper defines the operation, shows how to implement it on a P-RAM and illustrates many applications of the operation.In addition to being a useful building block, the all-prefix-sums operation is a good example of a computation that seems inherently sequential, but for which there is an efficient parallel algorithm."
A review of the manufacture, mechanical properties and potential applications of auxetic foams (2013)

Auxetics are a modern class of material fabricated by altering the material microstructure. Unlike conventional materials, auxetics exhibit a negative Poisson's ratio when subjected to tensile loading. These materials have gained popularity within the research community because of their enhanced properties, such as density, stiffness, fracture toughness and dampening. This paper provides a critical oversight of the auxetic field with particular emphasis to the auxetic foams, due to their low price, easy availability and desirable mechanical properties. Key areas discussed include the fabrication method, the effects played by different parameters (temperature, heating time, cell shape and size and volumetric compression ratio), microstructural models, mechanical properties and potential applications.
Development of a breathalyzer for car drivers (2016)

This work presents the development of a breathalyzer to be used inside a car. The breathalyzer constantly monitors the alcohol level in the ambient into a car, which is produced by the breath of the driver, principally. The breathalyzer uses an alcohol sensor MQ-3, a closed-normally electromagnetic relay to obstruct the ignition of the car, a global position system (GPS) module, a global system for mobile communications (GSM) module and a PIC18F25K50 microcontroller. The GPS module is used to know the position coordinates of the car whereas the GSM module is used to send a message to the security department of the place where is the parked car. The alcohol sensor, the electromagnetic relay and the two modules are controlled by the microcontroller. The proposed system was implemented and evaluated on five vehicles and tested with different alcohol levels ingested by the driver, showing a good performance in all cases.