gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
FG-3019, A Human Monoclonal Antibody to Connective Tissue Growth Factor, Combined with Chemotherapy in Patients with Locally Advanced or Metastatic Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (2016)

Purpose: Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and facilitates local desmoplasia, tumor progression and metastasis in animal models. This study evaluated safety and initial efficacy of the anti-CTGF antibody FG-3019 in combination with gemcitabine and erlotinib in patients with previously untreated Stage III or Stage IV PDAC.
Methods: Eight escalating FG-3019 doses/regimens ranging from 3 to 45 mg/kg Q2W and 17.5 and 22.5 mg/kg QW were evaluated. Toxicity, tumor response by CA19.9 and CT scan RECIST criteria, progression-free and overall survival were assessed. FG-3019 day 15 trough plasma levels (D15Cmin), as a measure of exposure, and baseline CTGF levels were correlated with clinical outcomes.
Results: Seventy-five patients were enrolled over 39.6 months. Median and longest treatment duration were 3.3 and 20.9 months, respectively. FG-3019 was well tolerated with no dose-related trends observed in type or incidence of SAEs. No FG-3019- dose-liming toxicity was observed. Median PFS and OS were 3.7 and 7.4 months, respectively. High FG-3019 exposure (D15 Cmin ≥ 150 μg/mL), compared to low exposure, was associated with improved median OS (9.0 vs. 4.4 months, respectively, p=0.024), 1-year OS rate (34.2% vs. 10.8%, respectively, p=0.026), and median PFS (6.0 vs. 2.4 months, respectively, p=0.032). Plasma CTGF showed potential as a predictive biomarker, as low baseline CTGF levels (<10 ng/mL) were associated with improved OS (10.1 vs. 4.4 months, p=0.028); and PFS (5.5 vs. 2.3 months, p=0.019).
Conclusions: FG-3019 can be safely combined with gemcitabine and erlotinib without incremental toxicity in advanced pancreatic cancer patients. Low baseline CTGF and high FG-3019 exposure were associated with improved survival. Targeting of PDAC by FG-3019 in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy represents a novel approach to this difficult disease and further trails are warranted.
TU-A-201B-02: 20-Fold Dose Reduction Using a Gradient Adaptive Bilateral Filter: Demonstration Using in Vivo Animal Perfusion CT (2010)

Purpose: To demonstrate the dose saving potential of a fast and practical algorithm based on a novel Gradient Adaptive Bilateral filtration (GABI) algorithm, applied to in vivo extremely low dose animal perfusion CT scans. Methods: the GABI algorithm is mainly applied in the time dimension to avoid losing spatial resolution and noise power spectra characteristics (texture of CT images). It expands the bilateral filter algorithm by non-locally adapting its strength based on a temporal gradient applied to the image dataset, and hence preserving contrast fidelity over time. We tested the GABI on two renal perfusion animal experiments which used a reference dose of 160 mAs (full dose FD), and 16 mAs and 8 mAs (1/10th and 1/20th of the radiation dose). Results: we demonstrated that the GABI algorithm preserves the temporal fidelity, as measured by the time attenuation curves (TACs), while dramatically reducing image noise from very low dose acquisitions, keeping comparable spatial resolution, and preserving CT noise texture. The background SNR for the FD pig A, FD pig B, 1/10th dose pig A, 1/20th dose pig B, 1/10th pig A + GABI, 1/20th pig B + GABI were 4.5, 4.4, 1.4, 0.85, 3.8 and 2.9 respectively. Higher background SNR improvements are possible, however we were constrained to keep very high fidelity to the TACs and hence perfusion parameters. Conclusions: the GABI algorithm provides a practical framework to highly reduce the dose in CT time series studies. The method is fast since it is image-space based and non-iterative. We demonstrated in real animal data, that in high SNR tasks as renal perfusion the gain in dose reduction can be as high as 20-fold with no practical detriment of perfusion information and image quality comparable to a full dose image acquisition. Further investigation for parameter optimization is guaranteed.
Learning from Mixed-Reality Games (2015)

The possibility of leveraging technology to support children's learning in the real world is both appealing and technically challenging. We have been exploring factors in tangible games that may contribute to both learning and enjoyment with an eye toward technological feasibility and scalability. Previous research found that young children learned early physics principles better when interactively predicting and observing experimental comparisons on a physical earthquake table than when seeing a video of the same. Immersing children in the real world with computer vision-based feedback appears to evoke embodied cognition that enhances learning. In the current experiment, we replicated this intriguing result of the mere difference between observing the real world versus a flat-screen. Further, we explored whether a simple and scalable addition of physical control (such as shaking a tablet) would yield an increase in learning and enjoyment. Our 2x2 experiment found no evidence that adding simple forms of hands-on control enhances learning, while demonstrating a large impact of physical observation. A general implication for educational game design is that affording physical observation in the real world accompanied by interactive feedback may be more important than affording simple hands-on control on a tablet.
Link adaptation and power control for streaming services in EGPRS wireless networks (2001)

Using the MPEG-4 advanced audio coder (AAC) music as an example of streaming applications, we investigate the improvement of error performance for the streaming service by link adaptation and power control techniques in an enhanced general packet radio services (EGPRS) cellular network. A low packet error rate and variability are essential in providing a short error-burst length so that error concealment techniques can be effectively applied to music packets. We study the effects of a combined link adaptation and power control scheme (referred to as the error-based scheme) for achieving a target error rate and reducing error variability. By simulation, we compare the error performance of the error-based scheme at both the EGPRS block and AAC frame level with another adaptation algorithm (referred to as the throughput-based scheme) with a goal of maximizing overall network throughput. It is found that when offered with a similar traffic load, the former scheme can provide noticeable improvement of music quality over the throughput-based scheme. To achieve a similar AAC frame error rate, our results also show that the error-based scheme can increase the link throughput over the throughput-based scheme by 66.7% in one of our examples. These results reveal that by aiming at required error targets and thus reducing error variability, the error-based scheme for link adaptation and power control are helpful in improving quality and capacity for streaming applications.
2‐Pentylfuran: a novel repellent of <i>Drosophila suzukii</i> (2020)

2-Pentylfuran acts as a repellent for SWD and can significantly reduce fruit infestations under field conditions and high SWD pressure. Given that 2-pentylfuran is a registered food additive and generally regarded as safe, 2-pentylfuran has a potential use in behavioral control strategies against SWD. Published 2020. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
A dual-car system for proving ground mileage accumulation tests (1977)

As a first step toward the realization of a fully automated road test facility for vehicles, a dual-car system has been developed to allow one driver to simultaneously operate two test vehicles. The system consists of a lead vehicle with driver, a servo-operated driverless trailing vehicle, and a zero-force mechanical connecting link. An electronic controller, coupled with throttle, brake, and steer servo motors, drives the trail vehicle to mimic the lead vehicle and its driver. The nominal zero-force link, which is six metres long, uses transducers to provide information for the servo operation of the trail vehicle, and allows safe management of the system in the event of a vehicle or system malfunction.
Chemistry of Unit Operations in Paper Deinking Mills (1995)

Unit operations in paper deinking mills encompass a range of mechanical and chemical processes. Pulping begins the process and is used to convert wastepaper into dispersed cellulose fibers. Pulping, kneading, and dispersion are unit operations in which ink is detached from cellulose fibers and the size and geometry of the dispersed ink adjusted for efficient removal in other unit operations. These unit operations include washing, flotation, screening, and mechanical cleaning. Additional unit operations such as bleaching, refining, and fractionation are used to impart the desired optical and physical properties to the recycled paper. The choice and sequence of unit operations is determined by the types of wastepaper being processed, the types of paper products being produced, and economic factors. Other unit operations critical to efficient and environmentally responsible mill operation include process water treatment and sludge handling.
ChemInform Abstract: Anti‐Markovnikov Oxidation and Hydration of Terminal Olefins (2014)

Abstract Review: 59 refs.
A framework for enhanced carrier aggregation with dynamic carrier selection (2013)

This paper proposes a framework for an enhanced form of Carrier Aggregation, with the focus on carrier selection mechanism that considers different types of shared spectrum resources for the aggregation. In addition to a spectrum class already owned by the operator, we envisage two additional shared spectrum classes, activated dynamically, according to the capacity demand. The two classes, referred to as exclusively shared and commonly shared differ in relation to the right of access, usage fees, interference levels and availability. We introduce different spectrum availability thresholds for the commonly shared spectrum class and spectral efficiency measure per channel between the two classes, based on the upper bound channel capacity. The aim is to provide the operators with suitable metrics that should aid their decision on a selection of dynamically shared carrier. As a result of the proposed mechanism, they should be able to identify whether the freely available, commonly shared class can offer the type of resources that the operator needs, or they have to resort to the fee-based, exclusively shared class.
Hemospan: Design Principles for a New Class of Oxygen Therapeutic (2009)

Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers have been under development for decades, but safety concerns have prevented commercial approval. Early designs for modified hemoglobins by polymerization or intramolecular cross-linking reactions increased molecular size and decreased oxygen affinity, but all exhibited side effects of vasoconstriction and reduced blood flow. A new strategy has been established by applying principles of oxygen transport to cell-free hemoglobin. Sangart has developed a new oxygen therapeutic, Hemospan, using site-specific, poly(ethylene) glycol conjugation chemistry designed on two principles: (i) increased macromolecular size to prolong intravascular retention time, and (ii) increased oxygen affinity to prevent premature oxygen offloading in arterioles. In contrast to early-generation products, Hemospan infusion maintains normal arteriolar vascular tone and capillary flow. Phase I and Phase II clinical trials have been completed, showing that Hemospan is well-tolerated in humans, with evidence of efficacy to impart hemodynamic stability in surgical patients under anesthesia. Phase III trials in orthopedic surgery have recently completed enrollment in Europe.
Comparative palatability of five supplements designed for cats suffering from chronic renal disease (2014)

Pronefra® was the most palatable presentation tested, meaning it may be useful for improving ease of supplementation in CKD cats.
Development of iron aluminides for coal gasification systems (1987)

The objective of the present study is to develop Fe/sub 3/Al-based aluminides with an optimum combination of strength, ductility, and corrosion resistance for use as hot components in advanced fossil energy conversion systems. Currently, heat-resistant alloys are either nickel-based or high-nickel-content steels containing a delicate balance of one or more of the strategic elements such as chromium, cobalt, and tungsten to produce the desired properties. The alloys under investigation in this study (iron aluminides) do not contain significant amounts of strategic elements, and they also have properties that make them attractive for fossil energy applications. Because of their ability to form a protective aluminum oxide film at very low oxygen partial pressures, iron aluminides near the Fe/sub 3/Al composition exhibit excellent corrosion resistance (including resistance to sulfidation) at high-temperatures in such environments. Other advantages are high strength at room temperature, lower density, and lower cost. Although the usefulness of the binary alloys is limited by low room-temperature ductility (1 to 2%) and poor hot strength above 550/sup 0/C, studies of several advanced (with minor alloy additions) iron-aluminum alloys based on the Fe/sub 3/Al composition indicate dramatic improvements in properties (McKamey and Liu 1986, McKamey et al. 1987). This report describesmore » recent progress in characterizing the effects of additions of other elements (<10 at. %) on the metallurgical and mechanical properties of our selected base alloy, Fe-28 at. % Al. 2 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.« less
Automatic audio morphing (2002)

This paper describes techniques to automatically morph from one sound to another. Audio morphing is accomplished by representing the sound in a multi-dimensional space that is warped or modified to produce a desired result. The multi-dimensional space encodes the spectral shape and pitch on orthogonal axes. After matching components of the sound, a morph smoothly interpolates the amplitudes to describe a new sound in the same perceptual space. Finally, the representation is inverted to produce a sound. This paper describes representations for morphing, techniques for matching, and algorithms for interpolating and morphing each sound component. Spectrographic images of a complete morph are shown at the end.
Large-Scale Location Prediction for Web Pages (2017)

Location information of Web pages plays an important role in location-sensitive tasks such as Web search ranking for location-sensitive queries. However, such information is usually ambiguous, incomplete, or even missing, which raises the problem of location prediction for Web pages. Meanwhile, Web pages are massive and often noisy, which pose challenges to the majority of existing algorithms for location prediction. In this paper, we propose a novel and scalable location prediction framework for Web pages based on the query-URL click graph. In particular, we introduce a concept of term location vectors to capture location distributions for all terms and develop an automatic approach to learn the importance of each term location vector for location prediction. Empirical results on a large URL set demonstrate that the proposed framework significantly improves the location prediction accuracy comparing with various representative baselines. We further provide a principled way to incorporate the proposed framework into the search ranking task and experimental results on a commercial search engine show that the proposed method remarkably boosts the ranking performance for location-sensitive queries.
Adenosine A<sub>2A</sub>receptor activation attenuates inflammation and injury in diabetic nephropathy (2005)

We previously demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effects and renal tissue protection in response to adenosine A(2A)-receptor (A(2A)R) activation in acute renal injury. We sought to extend these studies and determine the efficacy of A(2A)R agonists in a chronic model of renal injury. We hypothesized that A(2A) agonists mediate renal tissue protection in diabetic nephropathy by reducing glomerular inflammation. Diabetes was induced with single intravenous injection of streptozotocin in Sprague-Dawley rats (50 mg/kg). Increases in urinary albumin excretion (UAE) and plasma creatinine at week 6 in the diabetes group (26- and 6-fold over control, respectively) were markedly reduced by continuous subcutaneous administration of ATL146e (10 ng x kg(-1) x min(-1)), a selective A(2A) agonist. The increase in UAE in the diabetes group was associated with a significant reduction in the expression of slit diaphragm-associated molecules compared with control (nephrin; P < 0.05 and podocin; P < 0.005) that was reversed by ATL146e treatment. Diabetes led to an increase in urinary excretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (705% of control), TNF-alpha (1,586% of control), IFN-gamma (298% of control), kidney fibronectin mRNA (457% of control), and glomerular infiltration of macrophages (764% of control), effects significantly reduced by ATL146e treatment. Mesangial expansion and basement membrane thickness were reduced with ATL146e. To further confirm the selectivity of ATL146e, we used wild-type (WT) or A(2A)knockout (A(2A)-KO) mice. Four weeks after diabetes, UAE increased significantly in both WT and A(2A)-KO diabetic mice (3.0- and 3.3-fold over control). A(2A) agonist treatment blocked the increase in UAE in WT diabetic mice (P < 0.001), whereas it had no effect on the A(2A)-KO diabetic mice. These results demonstrate that chronic A(2A)R activation in diabetic rats 1) ameliorates histological and functional changes in kidneys induced by diabetes and 2) causes reduced inflammation associated with diabetic nephropathy.
Three functional variants of IFN regulatory factor 5 ( <i>IRF5</i> ) define risk and protective haplotypes for human lupus (2007)

Systematic genome-wide studies to map genomic regions associated with human diseases are becoming more practical. Increasingly, efforts will be focused on the identification of the specific functional variants responsible for the disease. The challenges of identifying causal variants include the need for complete ascertainment of genetic variants and the need to consider the possibility of multiple causal alleles. We recently reported that risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is strongly associated with a common SNP in IFN regulatory factor 5 (IRF5), and that this variant altered spicing in a way that might provide a functional explanation for the reproducible association to SLE risk. Here, by resequencing and genotyping in patients with SLE, we find evidence for three functional alleles of IRF5: the previously described exon 1B splice site variant, a 30-bp in-frame insertion/deletion variant of exon 6 that alters a proline-, glutamic acid-, serine- and threonine-rich domain region, and a variant in a conserved polyA+ signal sequence that alters the length of the 3' UTR and stability of IRF5 mRNAs. Haplotypes of these three variants define at least three distinct levels of risk to SLE. Understanding how combinations of variants influence IRF5 function may offer etiological and therapeutic insights in SLE; more generally, IRF5 and SLE illustrates how multiple common variants of the same gene can together influence risk of common disease.
Enhancement of 1,3-propanediol production from industrial by-product by Lactobacillus reuteri CH53 (2020)

We used CSL as a low-cost nitrogen source to replace beef extract for 1,3-PDO production in L. reuteri CH53. These cells efficiently utilized crude glycerol and CSL to produce 1,3-PDO. This strain has great promise for the production of 1,3-PDO because it is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and non-pathogenic. Also, this strain has high productivity and high conversion yield.
A wide-band 20W LDMOS Doherty power amplifier (2010)

Summary form only given. This work discusses the efficiency bandwidth constrains in Doherty amplifiers. An analysis of the bandwidth limitations imposed by the impedance inverter and output capacitance of the active devices is given. Alternative wideband matching and output connection schemes for Doherty amplifiers are evaluated for their efficiency performance both at full output power, as well as, in power back-off operation. The presented theory is verified using a Doherty demonstrator amplifier, which allows independent control of the input signals for the main and peak device. The related measurements show the largest high-efficiency bandwidth reported up to date for a Doherty amplifier.
Color image segmentation (2003)

In this work, a new approach to fully automatic color image segmentation, called JSEG, is presented. First, colors in the image are quantized to several representing classes that can be used to differentiate regions in the image. Then, image pixel colors are replaced by their corresponding color class labels, thus forming a class-map of the image. A criterion for "good" segmentation using this class-map is proposed. Applying the criterion to local windows in the class-map results in the "J-image", in which high and low values correspond to possible region boundaries and region centers, respectively. A region growing method is then used to segment the image based on the multi-scale J-images. Experiments show that JSEG provides good segmentation results on a variety of images.
Stable polarizing light waveguide plate for edgelit liquid crystal displays (2016)

Hand-held liquid crystal displays are usually edgelit, where light is produced by a light source installed at the edge of the display and is spread out to illuminate the entire display through a light waveguide plate (LWGP). We developed a stable polarizing light waveguide plate which converts unpolarized incident light from edgelight into linearly polarized light. It selectively scatters light depending on the polarization. Its structure is stabilized by polymer network. Its scattering property is permanent without applied voltage. This polarizing LWGP can significantly increase the light efficiency of edgelit liquid crystal displays.
Silicon accelerometer with differential Frequency Modulation and continuous self-calibration (2013)

We report a new silicon MEMS accelerometer based on differential Frequency Modulation (FM) with experimentally demonstrated self-calibration against dynamic temperature environment and μg-level Allan deviation of bias. The sensor architecture is based on resonant frequency tracking in a vacuum packaged SOI tuning fork oscillator with a high Q-factor. The oscillator is instrumented with a DC voltage biased parallel plate capacitor, which couples the proof mass displacement to the effective stiffness by means of the negative electrostatic spring effect. External acceleration is detected as an FM signal. To address drift over temperature, the MEMS sensor die incorporates two identical tuning forks with opposing axes of sensitivity. Demodulation of the differential FM output from the two simultaneously operated oscillators eliminates common mode errors and provides a continuously self-calibrated FM output. An x-axis SOI prototype with a tunable scale factor was built and characterized over dynamic temperature environment, experimentally demonstrating continuous self-calibration.
Composite Membrane Formation by Combination of Reaction‐Induced and Nonsolvent‐Induced Phase Separation (2017)

A novel method of preparing skinned asymmetric membranes with two distinctive layers is described: a top layer composed of chemically cross‐linked polymer chains (dense layer) and a bottom layer of non‐cross‐linked polymer chains (porous substructure). The method consists of two simple steps that are compatible with industrial membrane fabrication facilities. Unlike conventional processes to prepare asymmetric membranes, with this approach it is possible to finely control the structure and functionalities of the final membrane. The thickness of the dense layer can be easily controlled over several orders of magnitude and targeted functional groups can be readily incorporated in it. image