gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Constitutive Activation of the PrfA Regulon Enhances the Potency of Vaccines Based on Live-Attenuated and Killed but Metabolically Active <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> Strains (2008)

Recombinant vaccines derived from the facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes are presently undergoing early-stage clinical evaluation in oncology treatment settings. This effort has been stimulated in part due to preclinical results that illustrate potent activation of innate and adaptive immune effectors by L. monocytogenes vaccines, combined with efficacy in rigorous animal models of malignant and infectious disease. Here, we evaluated the immunologic potency of a panel of isogenic vaccine strains that varied only in prfA. PrfA is an intracellularly activated transcription factor that induces expression of virulence genes and encoded heterologous antigens (Ags) in appropriately engineered vaccine strains. Mutant strains with PrfA locked into a constitutively active state are known as PrfA* mutants. We assessed the impacts of three PrfA* mutants, G145S, G155S, and Y63C, on the immunologic potencies of live-attenuated and photochemically inactivated nucleotide excision repair mutant (killed but metabolically active [KBMA]) vaccines. While PrfA* substantially increased Ag expression in strains grown in broth culture, Ag expression levels were equivalent in infected macrophage and dendritic cell lines, conditions that more closely parallel those in the immunized host. However, only the prfA(G155S) allele conferred significantly enhanced vaccine potency to KBMA vaccines. In the KBMA vaccine background, we show that PrfA*(G155S) enhanced functional cellular immunity following an intravenous or intramuscular prime-boost immunization regimen. These results form the basis of a rationale for including the prfA(G155S) allele in future live-attenuated or KBMA L. monocytogenes vaccines advanced to the clinical setting.
Boost-Buck power factor correction converter with integrated different current control methods (2013)

Working principle of single-phase Boost-cascaded Boost-Buck(BoCBB) power factor correction converter is analyzed. On this basis, a new nonlinear current control method for buck converter is presented first, and a novel integrated control strategy constituting average current mode control and the above nonlinear current control method is proposed for BoCBB converter. With this control strategy, the BoCBB converter can work as a simple boost or a simple buck converter as required. That is, when the input voltage is lower than the output voltage, BoCBB works as a boost converter and the average current control method is used, and when the input voltage is higher than the output voltage, BoCBB works as a buck converter and the above nonlinear current control method is used. Compared with the traditional control scheme that the first-stage boost converter and second-stage buck converter are controlled independently, both the switching loss and voltage stress of the BoCBB can be reduced markedly, and the input current can be controlled more effectively not only in boost work mode, but also in buck work mode. Control diagram is given in this paper, and a 1.5kW rated single-phase boost-buck converter prototype controlled with digital signal processor (DSP) TMS28027 is built to verify the theoretical analysis. Experimental results shows that the output voltage can be regulated at a given value which is lower than peak line voltage, the input current can also be controlled into a sinusoidal waveform, and unit power factor is achieved meanwhile.
A hinged-pad test structure for sliding friction measurement in micromachining (1998)

We describe the design, modeling, fabrication and initial testing of a new test structure for friction measurement in MEMS. The device consists of a cantilevered forked beam and a friction pad attached via a hinge. Compared to previous test structures, the proposed structure can measure friction over much larger pressure ranges, yet occupies one hundred times less area. The placement of the hinge is crucial to obtaining a well-known and constant pressure distribution in the device. Static deflections on the device were measured and modeled numerically. Preliminary results indicate that friction pad slip is sensitive to friction pad normal force.
Linear and nonlinear optical properties of ferroelectric BaMgF4 and BaZnF4 (1975)

These first measurements of the nonlinear optical properties of fluorides (BaMgF4 and BaZnF4) show these air-stable compounds to be noncritically phase matchable at room temperature for a 1.06-μ pump. The highly ionic compounds are also quite resistant to optical damage (∼109 W/cm2). The materials should find applications as frequency doublers in cases where spatial power distribution makes crystals with walk off less desirable and/or cases where high pump powers require crystals which are resistent to damage.
TTI SETS THE STAGE FOR SILENCE ON HIGHWAYS (1997)

A 12-ft (4-m) tall, 100-ft (30-m) long soundwall, constructed in Texas with recycled materials, weathered a year of sun, wind, and testing, including being whacked with a sledgehammer. The soundwall design is a modular format using recycled materials chosen from nearly two dozen manufacturers. Support columns are sunk approximately 8 ft (2 m) deep and 8 ft apart. Eight-foot modular panels then slide down between the columns, overlapping and covering them, to form a smooth 12-ft (4-m) wall on both sides. Murals or other graphics can then be applied to both sides, accommodating the fact that soundwall aesthetics have become almost as important as sound abatement qualities. The test wall had excellent acoustic reduction characteristics as well.
Verification of time signals (2016)

A continuous broadcast transmission of time information is actually common. In every data network the accurate system time has to be available in any devices. This paper describes a method to verify received time signals over different existing time transmission systems. By this approach, the time between two received time signals is continuously measured and compared with the time difference calculated by the time information contained in the time signals. In other words, physical and logical information is compared. The physical time difference is directly calculated using the recovered or reconstructed carrier frequency of the transmission system (for example: the DCF77 time distribution system in Germany uses a carrier frequency of 77.5 kHz with ASK/PSK modulation). A time counter is clocked by the recovered or reconstructed carrier frequency of the system. The physical time difference between the transmission of two time signals can be derived from the number of oscillations. The logical time difference is given by the time information contained in the received time signals. The time counter value of the time counter is stored, evaluated, restarted and compared to the logical time difference after any correct received time signal in the receiver. The comparison of physical and logical time differences is continuously verified to detect time leaps, which may appear during the transmission of time signals. Manipulated or delayed time signals can be identified accurately. This method can be applied without changing the time distribution protocol and can applied to other time distribution services. The verification process takes place exclusively in the receiver and does not disturb the reception of the present recipients in the reception area of the transmitter station.
Extracellular vesicles carry microRNA‐195 to intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and improve survival in a rat model (2016)

EVs play a salient role in trafficking miR species between cancer cells and CAFs in human CCA. Understanding of these mechanisms may allow devising of novel therapeutics. (Hepatology 2017;65:501-514).
Admittance Compensation in Current Loop Control for a Grid-Tie LCL Fuel Cell Inverter (2007)

Current loop transfer function of a single-phase grid-tie inverter has been systematically derived with representations of conventional transfer function format using admittance terms for controller design and loop compensation. The power circuit adopts the LCL type filter to allow universal output that can be operated in both standalone and grid-tie modes. The proposed admittance compensation along with a quasi-proportional-resonant compensator is designed to achieve high gain at the fundamental frequency while maintaining enough stability margin. The proposed current loop controller and admittance compensation have been simulated and tested with a 5-kW fuel cell prototype. Without the admittance path compensation, simulation results indicate that the system cannot start up smoothly and the zero current command cannot be tracked very well. At first simulation cycle, the power flow erratically fed back to the inverter that may cause catastrophe failure. With admittance path compensation, the time-domain current steady-state error can be easily reduced with the loop gain design in frequency-domain. Simulation and experimental results show that the inverter is capable of both standalone and grid-tie connection mode operations and smooth power flow control even with zero current command.
Evaluation of WO 2012/177618 A1 and US-2014/0179750 A1: novel small molecule antagonists of prostaglandin-E<sub>2</sub>receptor EP2 (2015)

Recent studies underscore that prostaglandin-E2 exerts mostly proinflammatory effects in chronic CNS and peripheral disease models, mainly through a specific prostanoid receptor EP2. However, very few highly characterized EP2 receptor antagonists have been reported until recently, when Pfizer and Emory University published two distinct classes of EP2 antagonists with good potency, selectivity and pharmacokinetics. The purpose of this article is to evaluate recently published patents WO 2012/177618 A1 and US-2014/0179750 A1 from Emory, which describe a number of cinnamic amide- and amide-derivatives as a potent antagonists of EP2 receptor, and their neuroprotective effects in in vitro and in an in vivo model. A selected compound from this patent(s) also attenuates prostate cancer cell growth and invasion in vitro, suggesting these compounds should be developed for therapeutic use.
MSU Jumper: A Single-Motor-Actuated Miniature Steerable Jumping Robot (2013)

The ability to jump is found widely among small animals such as frogs, grasshoppers, and fleas. They jump to overcome large obstacles relative to their small sizes. Inspired by the animals' jumping capability, a miniature jumping robot-Michigan State University (MSU) Jumper-has been developed. In this paper, the mechanical design, fabrication, and experimentation of the MSU jumper are presented. The robot can achieve the following three performances simultaneously, which distinguish it from the other existing jumping robots. First, it can perform continuous steerable jumping that is based on the self-righting and the steering capabilities. Second, the robot only requires a single actuator to perform all the functions. Third, the robot has a light weight (23.5 g) to reduce the damage that results from the impact of landing. Experimental results show that, with a 75° take-off angle, the robot can jump up to 87 cm in vertical height and 90 cm in horizontal distance. The robot has a wide range of applications such as sensor/communication networks, search and rescue, surveillance, and environmental monitoring.
Automated bolus chase peripheral MR angiography: Initial practical experiences and future directions of this work‐in‐progress (1999)

Bolus chase 3-dimensional MR angiography (3D MRA) is a recent development that extends the effective field of view for arterial imaging from the typical single 40–50 cm to over 100 cm. This technique is well suited for imaging long vascular territories such as the lower extremity. Bolus chase peripheral 3D MRA is achieved with overlapping 3D gradient-echo scans during the arterial transit of a single intravenous injection of gadolinium-chelate contrast media. This technique can depict the arteries from the infrarenal aorta to the ankles in less than 2 minutes. The initial experiences with bolus chase peripheral MRA using an automated algorithm that controls both table translation and 3D data acquisition are described. Suggestions for future refinements to the technique are also discussed. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 1999;10:376–388. Published 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A Discrete SOA-Raman Hybrid Amplifier with 80-nm Bandwidth (2006)

We demonstrate a broad, wavelength flexible SOA-Raman hybrid amplifier for metro/access networks. Using highly nonlinear fiber as the Raman gain medium, the amplifier has all the advantages of a discrete device.
Harnessing the hERG1/β1 Integrin Complex via a Novel Bispecific Single-chain Antibody: An Effective Strategy against Solid Cancers (2021)

mAbs, either mono- or bispecific (bsAb), represent one of the most successful approaches to treat many types of malignancies. However, there are certain limitations to the use of full length mAbs for clinical applications, which can be overcome by engineered antibody fragments. The aim of this study was to develop a small bsAb, in the format of a single-chain diabody (scDb), to efficiently target two proteins, the hERG1 potassium channel and the β1 subunit of integrin receptors, which specifically form a macromolecular complex in cancer cells. We provide evidence that the scDb we produced binds to the hERG1/β1 complex in cancer cells and tissues, but does not bind to the hERG1 channel in nonpathologic tissues, in particular the heart. The scDb-hERG1-β1 (i) downregulates the formation of the hERG1/β1 complex, (ii) inhibits Akt phosphorylation and HIF-1α expression, and (iii) decreases cell survival, proliferation, and migration <i>in vitro</i> These effects only occur in cancer cells (either colon, pancreatic, or breast), but not in normal cells. <i>In vivo</i>, the scDb-hERG1-β1 shows a good pharmacokinetic profile, with a half-life of 13.5 hours and no general, cardiac, or renal toxicity when injected intravenously up to the dose of 8 mg/kg. The scDb-hERG1-β1 accumulates into subcutaneous xenografted tumors, arising from either colon or pancreatic human cancer cells, and induces a reduction of tumor growth and vascularization. Overall, the scDb-hERG1-β1 represents an innovative single-chain bispecific antibody for therapeutic applications in solid cancers that overexpress the hERG1/β1 integrin signaling complex.
View-Invariant Action Recognition Using Rank Constraint (2010)

We propose a new method for view-invariant action recognition based on the rank constraint on the family of planar homographies associated with triplets of body points. We represent action as a sequence of poses and we use the fact that the family of homographies associated with two identical poses would have rank 4 to gauge similarity of the pose between two subjects, observed by different perspective cameras and from different viewpoints. Extensive experimental results show that our method can accurately identify action from video sequences when they are observed from totally different viewpoints with different camera parameters.
Forensic body fluid identification: The Raman spectroscopic signature of saliva (2009)

The potential use of Raman spectroscopy for nondestructive, confirmatory identification of body fluids at the crime scene has been reported recently (Virkler and Lednev, Forensic Sci.,Int., 2008, 181, e1-e5). However, those experiments were performed using only one sample of each body fluid and did not investigate the potential for spectral variations among different donors of the same fluid. This paper reports on the role of heterogeneity within a single human saliva sample as well as among samples from multiple donors. Near-infrared (NIR) Raman spectroscopy was used to measure spectra of pure dried human saliva samples from multiple donors in a controlled laboratory environment. Principal component analysis of spectra obtained from multiple spots on dry samples showed that dry saliva is heterogeneous and its Raman spectra could be presented as a linear combination of a fluorescent background and three spectral components. The major chemical components known to be present in saliva were used to tentatively identify the principal spectral components. The issue of potential spectral variations that could arise between different donors of saliva was also addressed. The relative contribution of each of the three components varies with donor, so no single spectrum could effectively represent an experimental Raman spectrum of dry saliva in a quantitative way. The combination of these three spectral components could be considered to be a spectroscopic signature for saliva. This proof of concept approach shows the potential for Raman spectroscopy to identify an unknown substance to be saliva during forensic analysis.
Using Sketches to Estimate Two-way and Multi-way Associations (2005)

We should not have to look at the entire corpus (e.g., the Web) to know if two (or more) words are associated or not. 1 A powerful sampling technique called Sketches was originally introduced to remove duplicate Web pages. We generalize sketches to estimate contingency tables and associations, using a maximum likelihood estimator to find the most likely contingency table given the sample, the margins (document frequencies) and the size of the collection. The proposed method has smaller errors and more flexibility than the original sketch method. Not unsurprisingly, computational work and statistical accuracy (variance or errors) depend on sampling rate, as will be shown both theoretically and empirically. Sampling methods become more and more important with larger and larger collections. At Web scale, sampling rates as low as 10 −4 may suffice. 1
Blood Pressure Lowering Effect of a Pea Protein Hydrolysate in Hypertensive Rats and Humans (2011)

The blood pressure lowering effect of a pea protein hydrolysate (PPH) that contained <3 kDa peptides, isolated by membrane ultrafiltration from the thermolysin digest of pea protein isolate (PPI), was examined using different rat models of hypertension as well as hypertensive human subjects. The PPH showed weak in vitro activities against renin and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) with inhibitory activities of 17 and 19%, respectively, at 1 mg/mL test concentration. Oral administration of the PPH to spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight led to a lowering of hourly systolic blood pressure (SBP), with a maximum reduction of 19 mmHg at 4 h. In contrast, orally administered unhydrolyzed PPI had no blood pressure reducing effect in SHR, suggesting that thermolysin hydrolysis may have been responsible for releasing bioactive peptides from the native protein. Oral administration of the PPH to the Han:SPRD-cy rat (a model of chronic kidney disease) over an 8-week period led to 29 and 25 mmHg reductions in SBP and diastolic blood pressure, respectively. The PPH-fed rats had lower plasma levels of angiotensin II, the major vasopressor involved in development of hypertension, but there was no effect on plasma activity or renal mRNA levels of ACE. However, renal expression of renin mRNA levels was reduced by approximately 50% in the PPH-fed rats, suggesting that reduced renin may be responsible for the reduced levels of angiotensin II. In a 3-week randomized double blind placebo-controlled crossover human intervention trial (7 volunteers), significant (p<0.05) reductions (over placebo) in SBP of 5 and 6 mmHg were obtained in the second and third weeks, respectively, for the PPH group. Therefore, thermolysin derived bioactive peptides from PPH reduced blood pressure in hypertensive rats and human subjects, likely via effects on the renal angiotensin system.
Positron emission tomographic images and expectation maximization: a VLSI architecture for multiple iterations per second (1988)

A digital electronic architecture for parallel processing of the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm for positron-emission-tomography (PET) image reconstruction is proposed. Rapid (0.2-s) EM iterations on high-resolution (256*256) images are supported. Arrays of two VLSI chips perform forward and back projection calculations. The architecture is described, including data flow and partitioning relevant to EM and parallel processing. EM images are shown that are produced with software simulating the proposed hardware reconstruction algorithm. Projected cost of the system is estimated to be small in comparison to the cost of current PET scanners.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
Integration of the first and second generation bioethanol processes and the importance of by-products (2014)

Lignocellulosic ethanol has obstacles in the investment costs and uncertainties in the process. One solution is to integrate it with the running dry mills of ethanol from grains. However, the economy of these mills, which dominate the world market, are dependent on their by-products DDGS (Distiller's Dried Grains and Solubles), sold as animal feed. The quality of DDGS therefore must not be negatively influenced by the integration. This puts restraints on the choice of pretreatment of lignocelluloses and utilizing the pentose sugars by food-grade microorganisms. The proposed solution is to use food related filamentous Zygomycetes and Ascomycetes fungi, and to produce fungal biomass as a high-grade animal feed from the residues after the distillation (stillage). This also has the potential to improve the first generation process by increasing the amount of the thin stillage directly sent back into the process, and by decreasing the evaporator based problems.
Simultaneous RD-optimized rate control and video de-noising (2008)

In this paper, we propose a simultaneous rate control and video de-noising algorithm based on rate distortion optimization. According to our previous works, video de-noising can be performed by using rate distortion optimization with a lower bound quantization parameter (QP) constraint, where the lower bound QP is determined by the noise variance. Then, we find that the macroblock level rate control method in H.264 can be seen as an approximate solution of a rate distortion optimization problem with a specified rate distortion function. Based on these two studies, we integrate the video de-noising problem and rate control problem to a rate distortion optimization problem. We show the convexity of the problem and derive the optimal solution. To reduce the complexity, we propose to use a suboptimal solution based on simply thresholding. Some experiments are conducted to demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Effect of structural change on acute toxicity and antiinflammatory activity in a series of imidazothiazoles and thiazolobenzimidazoles (1981)

The effect of structural change on the biological activity of a series of imidazothiazoles and thiazolobenzimidazoles is described. It was found that compounds with polar substituents at the 2 or 3 position of the ring system are less acutely toxic while maintaining antiinflammatory activity. Other structural changes, such as the incorporation of a gem-dimethyl substituent in the 6 position, increase acute toxicity and eliminate antiinflammatory activity. The compound with the best activity/toxicity ratio contains an alkyl sulfonyl substituent on the thiazole ring. The thiazolobenzimidazole analogues are more potent than the imidazole analogues.